Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Outputs (21)

Native ESI-MS and Collision-Induced Unfolding (CIU) of the Complex between Bacterial Elongation Factor-Tu and the Antibiotic Enacyloxin IIa (2024)
Journal Article
Baines, C., Sargeant, J., Fage, C. D., Pugh, H., Alkhalaf, L. M., Challis, G. L., & Oldham, N. J. (2024). Native ESI-MS and Collision-Induced Unfolding (CIU) of the Complex between Bacterial Elongation Factor-Tu and the Antibiotic Enacyloxin IIa. Journal of The American Society for Mass Spectrometry, https://doi.org/10.1021/jasms.4c00087

Collision-induced unfolding (CIU) of protein ions, monitored by ion mobility-mass spectrometry, can be used to assess the stability of their compact gas-phase fold and hence provide structural information. The bacterial elongation factor EF-Tu, a key... Read More about Native ESI-MS and Collision-Induced Unfolding (CIU) of the Complex between Bacterial Elongation Factor-Tu and the Antibiotic Enacyloxin IIa.

A diterpene synthase from the sandfly Lutzomyia longipalpis produces the pheromone sobralene (2024)
Journal Article
Ducker, C., Baines, C., Guy, J., Euzébio Goulart Santana, A., Pickett, J. A., & Oldham, N. J. (2024). A diterpene synthase from the sandfly Lutzomyia longipalpis produces the pheromone sobralene. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(12), Article e2322453121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2322453121

The phlebotomine sandfly, Lutzomyia longipalpis, a major vector of the Leishmania parasite, uses terpene pheromones to attract conspecifics for mating. Examination of the L. longipalpis genome revealed a putative terpene synthase (TPS), which—upon he... Read More about A diterpene synthase from the sandfly Lutzomyia longipalpis produces the pheromone sobralene.

Pea aphid odorant-binding protein ApisOBP6 discriminates between aphid sex pheromone components, aphid alarm pheromone and a host plant volatile (2023)
Journal Article
Sims, C., Birkett, M. A., Oldham, N. J., Stockman, R. A., & Withall, D. M. (2023). Pea aphid odorant-binding protein ApisOBP6 discriminates between aphid sex pheromone components, aphid alarm pheromone and a host plant volatile. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 162, Article 104026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibmb.2023.104026

Olfactory perception of pheromones in insects involves odorant-binding proteins (OBPs), relatively small proteins (ca.110-240 amino acid residues) that can bind reversibly to behaviourally active olfactory ligands. In this study, we investigated the... Read More about Pea aphid odorant-binding protein ApisOBP6 discriminates between aphid sex pheromone components, aphid alarm pheromone and a host plant volatile.

Antibody-based sex determination of human skeletal remains (2023)
Journal Article
Shaw, B., Foggin, S., Hamilton-Stanley, P., Barlow, A., Pickard, C., Fibiger, L., …Layfield, R. (2023). Antibody-based sex determination of human skeletal remains. iScience, 26(11), Article 108191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2023.108191

Assignment of biological sex to skeletal remains is critical in the accurate reconstruction of the past. Analysis of sex-chromosome encoded AMELX and AMELY peptides from the enamel protein amelogenin underpins a minimally destructive mass spectrometr... Read More about Antibody-based sex determination of human skeletal remains.

Osteological, multi-isotope and proteomic analysis of poorly-preserved human remains from a Dutch East India Company burial ground in South Africa (2023)
Journal Article
Olszewski, J., Hall, R. A., Kootker, L. M., Oldham, N. J., Layfield, R., Shaw, B., …Schrader, S. A. (2023). Osteological, multi-isotope and proteomic analysis of poorly-preserved human remains from a Dutch East India Company burial ground in South Africa. Scientific Reports, 13, Article 14666. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-41503-9

Skeletal remains discovered in Simon’s Town, South Africa, were hypothesised as being associated with a former Dutch East India Company (VOC) hospital. We report a novel combined osteological and biochemical approach to these poorly-preserved remains... Read More about Osteological, multi-isotope and proteomic analysis of poorly-preserved human remains from a Dutch East India Company burial ground in South Africa.

Characterisation of geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase from the sandfly Lutzomyia longipalpis (2023)
Journal Article
Ducker, C., French, S., Pathak, M., Taylor, H., Sainter, A., Askem, W., …Oldham, N. J. (2023). Characterisation of geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase from the sandfly Lutzomyia longipalpis. Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 161, Article 104001. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibmb.2023.104001

Leishmaniasis is a debilitating and often fatal neglected tropical disease. Males from sub-populations of the Leishmania-harbouring sandfly, Lutzomyia longipalpis, produce the diterpene sex and aggregation pheromone, sobralene, for which geranylgeran... Read More about Characterisation of geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase from the sandfly Lutzomyia longipalpis.

Mapping the Binding Interactions between Human Gasdermin D and Human Caspase-1 Using Carbene Footprinting (2023)
Journal Article
Lloyd, J. R., Biasutto, A., Dürr, K. L., Jazayeri, A., Hopper, J. T., & Oldham, N. J. (2023). Mapping the Binding Interactions between Human Gasdermin D and Human Caspase-1 Using Carbene Footprinting. JACS Au, 3(7), 2025-2035. https://doi.org/10.1021/jacsau.3c00236

Carbene footprinting is a recently developed mass spectrometry-based chemical labeling technique that probes protein interactions and conformation. Here, we use the methodology to investigate binding interactions between the protease human Caspase-1... Read More about Mapping the Binding Interactions between Human Gasdermin D and Human Caspase-1 Using Carbene Footprinting.

Computational investigation of aphid odorant receptor structure and binding function (2022)
Journal Article
Sims, C., Withall, D. M., Oldham, N., Stockman, R., & Birkett, M. (2023). Computational investigation of aphid odorant receptor structure and binding function. Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, 41(8), 3647-3658. https://doi.org/10.1080/07391102.2022.2053743

Odorant receptors (OR) play a critical role in signal transduction and olfactory recognition in insects. Unfortunately, insect ORs are difficult to express and purify, and limited structural data are available. Computational methods were used to pred... Read More about Computational investigation of aphid odorant receptor structure and binding function.

An ALS-associated variant of the autophagy receptor SQSTM1/p62 reprograms binding selectivity toward the autophagy-related hATG8 proteins (2021)
Journal Article
Brennan, A., Layfield, R., Long, J., Williams, H. E., Oldham, N. J., Scott, D., & Searle, M. S. (2022). An ALS-associated variant of the autophagy receptor SQSTM1/p62 reprograms binding selectivity toward the autophagy-related hATG8 proteins. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 298(2), Article 101514. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2021.101514

Recognition of human autophagy-related 8 (hATG8) proteins by autophagy receptors represents a critical step within this cellular quality control system. Autophagy impairment is known to be a pathogenic mechanism in the motor neuron disorder amyotroph... Read More about An ALS-associated variant of the autophagy receptor SQSTM1/p62 reprograms binding selectivity toward the autophagy-related hATG8 proteins.

Site‐Selective Installation of Nϵ ‐Modified Sidechains into Peptide and Protein Scaffolds via Visible‐Light‐Mediated Desulfurative C–C Bond Formation (2021)
Journal Article
Griffiths, R. C., Smith, F. R., Long, J. E., Scott, D., Williams, H. E. L., Oldham, N. J., …Mitchell, N. J. (2022). Site‐Selective Installation of Nϵ ‐Modified Sidechains into Peptide and Protein Scaffolds via Visible‐Light‐Mediated Desulfurative C–C Bond Formation. Angewandte Chemie, 134(2), Article e202110223. https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202110223

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) enhance the repertoire of protein function and mediate or influence the activity of many cellular processes. The preparation of site-specifically and homogeneously modified proteins, to apply as tools to unders... Read More about Site‐Selective Installation of Nϵ ‐Modified Sidechains into Peptide and Protein Scaffolds via Visible‐Light‐Mediated Desulfurative C–C Bond Formation.

Combined Chemical Modification and Collision Induced Unfolding Using Native Ion Mobility‐Mass Spectrometry Provides Insights into Protein Gas‐Phase Structure (2021)
Journal Article
Al‐jabiry, A., Palmer, M., Langridge, J., Bellamy‐Carter, J., Robinson, D., & Oldham, N. J. (2021). Combined Chemical Modification and Collision Induced Unfolding Using Native Ion Mobility‐Mass Spectrometry Provides Insights into Protein Gas‐Phase Structure. Chemistry - A European Journal, 27(55), 13783-13792. https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202101857

Native mass spectrometry is now an important tool in structural biology. Thus, the nature of higher protein structure in the vacuum of the mass spectrometer is an area of significant interest. One of the major goals in the study of gas-phase protein... Read More about Combined Chemical Modification and Collision Induced Unfolding Using Native Ion Mobility‐Mass Spectrometry Provides Insights into Protein Gas‐Phase Structure.

Iridoid Sex Pheromone Biosynthesis in Aphids Mimics Iridoid‐Producing Plants (2021)
Journal Article
Partridge, S. J., Withall, D. M., Caulfield, J. C., Pickett, J. A., Stockman, R. A., Oldham, N. J., & Birkett, M. A. (2021). Iridoid Sex Pheromone Biosynthesis in Aphids Mimics Iridoid‐Producing Plants. Chemistry - A European Journal, 27(25), 7231-7234. https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202001356

Biosynthesis of (1R,4aS,7S,7aR)‐nepetalactol (1) and (4aS,7S,7aR)‐nepetalactone (2) in plants involves iridoid synthase (ISY), an atypical reductive cyclase that catalyses the reduction of 8‐oxogeranial into the reactive enol of (S)‐8‐oxocitronellal,... Read More about Iridoid Sex Pheromone Biosynthesis in Aphids Mimics Iridoid‐Producing Plants.

Decoding Protein Gas‐Phase Stability with Alanine Scanning and Collision‐Induced Unfolding Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry (2020)
Journal Article
Bellamy‐Carter, J., O'Grady, L., Passmore, M., Jenner, M., & Oldham, N. J. (2021). Decoding Protein Gas‐Phase Stability with Alanine Scanning and Collision‐Induced Unfolding Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry. Analysis & Sensing, 1(1), 63-69. https://doi.org/10.1002/anse.202000019

Native mass spectrometry is a widely used tool in structural biology, providing information on protein structure and interactions through preservation of complexes in the gas phase. Herein, the importance of intramolecular non‐covalent interactions i... Read More about Decoding Protein Gas‐Phase Stability with Alanine Scanning and Collision‐Induced Unfolding Ion Mobility Mass Spectrometry.

Structural basis for chain release from the enacyloxin polyketide synthase (2019)
Journal Article
Kosol, S., Gallo, A., Griffiths, D., Valentic, T. R., Masschelein, J., Jenner, M., …Lewandowski, J. R. (2019). Structural basis for chain release from the enacyloxin polyketide synthase. Nature Chemistry, 11(10), 913-923. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-019-0335-5

Modular polyketide synthases and nonribosomal peptide synthetases are molecular assembly lines consisting of several multienzyme subunits that undergo dynamic selfassembly to form a functional mega-complex. N- and C-terminal docking domains are usual... Read More about Structural basis for chain release from the enacyloxin polyketide synthase.

PepFoot: a software package for semiautomated processing of protein footprinting data (2019)
Journal Article
Bellamy-Carter, J., & Oldham, N. J. (2019). PepFoot: a software package for semiautomated processing of protein footprinting data. Journal of Proteome Research, 18(7), 2925-2930. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jproteome.9b00238

Covalent footprinting of proteins using reactive intermediates such as radicals and carbenes is emerging as a valuable tool for mapping surface accessibility, and hence binding sites of proteins. The approach generates a significant amount of mass sp... Read More about PepFoot: a software package for semiautomated processing of protein footprinting data.

A front-face 'SNi synthase' engineered from a retaining 'double-SN2' hydrolase (2017)
Journal Article
Iglesias-Fernández, J., Hancock, S. M., Lee, S. S., Khan, M., Kirkpatrick, J., Oldham, N. J., …Davis, B. G. (2017). A front-face 'SNi synthase' engineered from a retaining 'double-SN2' hydrolase. Nature Chemical Biology, 13, 874-881. https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.2394

SNi or SNi-like mechanisms, in which leaving group departure and nucleophile approach occur on the same ‘front’ face, have been observed previously experimentally and computationally in both the chemical and enzymatic (glycosyltransferase) substituti... Read More about A front-face 'SNi synthase' engineered from a retaining 'double-SN2' hydrolase.

Design of nucleotide-mimetic and non-nucleotide inhibitors of the translation initiation factor eIF4E: Synthesis, structural and functional characterisation (2016)
Journal Article
Soukarieh, F., Nowicki, M. W., Bastide, A., Poyry, T., Jones, C., Dudek, K., …Fischer, P. M. (2016). Design of nucleotide-mimetic and non-nucleotide inhibitors of the translation initiation factor eIF4E: Synthesis, structural and functional characterisation. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 124, 200-217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmech.2016.08.047

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E) is considered as the corner stone in the cap-dependent translation initiation machinery. Its role is to recruit mRNA to the ribosome through recognition of the 50 - terminal mRNA cap structure (m7 G... Read More about Design of nucleotide-mimetic and non-nucleotide inhibitors of the translation initiation factor eIF4E: Synthesis, structural and functional characterisation.

Acyl hydrolases from trans-AT polyketide synthases target acetyl units on acyl carrier proteins (2016)
Journal Article
Jenner, M., Afonso, J. P., Kohlhaas, C., Karbaum, P., Frank, S., Piel, J., & Oldham, N. J. (in press). Acyl hydrolases from trans-AT polyketide synthases target acetyl units on acyl carrier proteins. Chemical Communications, 52(30), https://doi.org/10.1039/C6CC01453D

Acyl hydrolase (AH) domains are a common feature of trans-AT PKSs. They have been hypothesised to perform a proofreading function by removing acyl chains from stalled sites. This study determines the substrate tolerance of the AH PedC for a range of... Read More about Acyl hydrolases from trans-AT polyketide synthases target acetyl units on acyl carrier proteins.

Genomic analysis of serogroup Y Neisseria meningitidis isolates reveals extensive similarities between carriage and disease-associated organisms (2016)
Journal Article
Oldfield, N. J., Harrison, O. B., Bayliss, C. D., Maiden, M. C., Ala'Aldeen, D. A., & Turner, D. P. (2016). Genomic analysis of serogroup Y Neisseria meningitidis isolates reveals extensive similarities between carriage and disease-associated organisms. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 213(11), 1777-1785. https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiw008

Background. Neisseria meningitidis is a frequent colonizer of the human nasopharynx with asymptomatic carriage providing the reservoir for invasive, disease-causing strains. Serogroup Y (MenY) strains are a major cause of meningococcal disease. High... Read More about Genomic analysis of serogroup Y Neisseria meningitidis isolates reveals extensive similarities between carriage and disease-associated organisms.

Ion mobility-mass spectrometry reveals conformational flexibility in the deubiquitinating enzyme USP5 (2015)
Journal Article
Scott, D., Layfield, R., & Oldham, N. J. (2015). Ion mobility-mass spectrometry reveals conformational flexibility in the deubiquitinating enzyme USP5. Proteomics, 15(16), https://doi.org/10.1002/pmic.201400457

Many proteins exhibit conformation flexibility as part of their biological function, whether through the presence of a series of well-defined states or by the existence of intrinsic disorder. Ion mobility spectrometry, in combination with MS (IM–MS),... Read More about Ion mobility-mass spectrometry reveals conformational flexibility in the deubiquitinating enzyme USP5.