Department of Biochemistry
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An internationally competitive research programme; themes include cell signalling and control of gene expression, to molecular microbiology, plant molecular biology and biofuel research, cancer and cardiovascular biology
The Department of Biochemistry is a member of the School of Biological Sciences and is one of the largest departments in Cambridge - around 400 research and support staff - with an internationally competitive research programme. The Department’s research contributes to the themes that describe the research in the School. We have attracted many outstanding independent research fellows with funding from the Wellcome Trust, British Heart Foundation, BBSRC and MRC, and several of our senior staff have been seconded to prestigious fellowships. The Department houses facilities funded by Wellcome Trust, BBSRC and MRC for modern biomolecular research, including an 800MHz NMR facility, modern X-ray laboratories, core facilities for mass spectrometry and plasmon resonance, advanced services for protein and nucleic acid sequencing. We have collaborated with the Department of Genetics in establishing the Systems Biology Centre, adjacent to the Sanger Building, which houses array technologies, proteomics and informatics, and we have established metabolomics elsewhere in the Department. We also participate in the new Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research. These new developments underpin research in a range of different biological processes from molecular enzymology, through cell signalling and control of gene expression, to molecular microbiology, plant molecular biology and biofuel research, cancer and cardiovascular biology.
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Discovery and functional analyses of new components of the apical complex and the pellicle of Toxoplasma gondii
The pellicle of the apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is a shared structure among the supergroup Alveolata, which consists of a patchwork of flattened vesicles underneath the plasma membrane. The apical complex, from ... -
Structure of the trypanosome transferrin receptor and insights into ligand binding and therapeutic strategies
African trypanosomes are extracellular protozoan pathogens that have evolved a complex and sophisticated interface with hosts to acquire nutrients and protect against the host immune system. The variant surface glycoprotein ... -
Characterising fitness landscapes of protein evolution by next-generation sequencing
(2020-10-24)A protein’s amino acid sequence determines its structural, chemical and physical properties, yet how sequence variation influences protein function is still incompletely understood. Protein fitness landscapes powerfully ... -
Molecular mechanism of Trypanosoma brucei Aquaglyceroporin 2
Trypanosoma brucei subspecies cause Human African Trypanosomiasis, which is fatal unless treated. T. brucei Aquaglyceroporin 2 (TbAQP2) is required for the uptake of two of the drugs used clinically, pentamidine and ...
