We are a chemical biology group which focuses on protein chemistry, molecular genetics and biophysics. Much of our work is centered on membrane proteins, in particular channels and pores. We are currently investigating both the fundamental properties of these proteins and their applications in biotechnology.
News from the Lab:
April 2012
- Congratulations to Professor Hagan Bayley, who has been awarded the 2012 RSC Interdisciplinary Prize on his ‘seminal studies of engineered protein pores offering insight into the basis of pore assembly and function, and enabling diverse applications, including single-molecule sensing and construction of artificial tissues.’
March 2012
- Congratulations to Dr. Leon Harrington for successfully defending his thesis on 6th Mar 2012!
- enGENEious meeting- a two day conference on cutting edge research in synthetic biology and biotechnology. This international event has been organised by students and post-docs of the University of Oxford to allow future researchers to meet pioneers who have made outstanding contributions in this field. For more information, check out http://engeneious.chem.ox.ac.uk/. Abstract and Registration deadline: 5th May 2012. Download [Flyer]
February 2012
- Nanopores take center-stage in the sequencing world- Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) unveiled their results on DNA ‘strand sequencing’ with its novel nanopore technique at the 2012 AGBT meeting on Friday (17/02/12). Presenting sequencing data for the first time using the high-throughput GridION platform and the new mini-reader minION, Chief Technology Officer, Clive Brown outlined the company's pathway to its new generation single-strand sequencing technology. The talk featured real-time data, demonstrating accurate long reads of ssDNA molecules, including the completion of two viral genomes, and the potential of delivering a $1000 genome in under an hour by 2013. The launch of the nanopore genome sequencer marks the end of a decade long wait, with the announcement creating quite a buzz amongst the DNA sequencing enthusiasts with additional reports from Nature, New Scientist, BioIT World, GenomeWeb, Forbes, Bloomberg and FT. The Official Press Release from ONT provides further details of the announcement.
- A new collaborative research paper with Dr. Mark Wallace (Oxford, UK) on the ‘Rapid assembly of a multimeric membrane protein pore’ has been published in the Biophysical Journal.
January 2012
- In our most recent paper, ‘Protein detection by nanopores equipped with aptamers’ published in JACS, we describe a new type of stochastic sensor based on an αHL pore modified with an aptamer. The approach allows the quantification of nanomolar concentrations of thrombin, and provides association and dissociation rate constants and equilibrium dissociation constants for thrombin-aptamer interactions.
- Happy New Year to all from the Bayley Lab!
- Our new paper titled ‘Nucleobase recognition at alkaline pH and apparent pKa of single DNA bases immobilised within a biological nanopore’ has been published in Chemical Communications. In collaboration with Dr. G Maglia (University of Leuven, Belgium) we have employed engineered αHL nanopores for the identification of single nucleobases at alkaline pH.. The work presented allows us to determine the protonation state of single DNA bases immobilised within the nanopore and their apparent pKa values.
- A new collaborative research paper with Prof. J Naismith group (St. Andrews, UK) on antibiotic transport through OmpC pores has been published in PLoS One.
- Our new paper, 'Formation of droplet networks that function in aqueous environments’ has been published in Nature Nanotechnology. The paper reports on the formation of structures called ‘multisomes’ in which networks of aqueous droplets with defined compositions are encapsulated within small drops of oil in water. The multi-compartment framework of these multisomes mimics a tissue and has several potential applications in synthetic biology and medicine.
- Postdoc Dr. Wen-wu Li is leaving the Bayley lab where he worked for over 6 years. He will be moving to Keele University to start his own academic career. We wish him all the best in his new post!
- We welcome postdocs Shuo Huang, Manuela Zanetti, Lajos Hofler, Ofer Wilner and PhD students Keisuke Tomono, Joongoo Lee and Alex Graham to the lab!
- New collaborative research on understanding the permeation of dyes through small pores has been published in Biochemistry. The paper entitled ‘Permeation of styryl dyes through nanometer-scale pores in membranes’ helps provides a framework for interpreting dye destaining rates from secretory vesicles. The research was carried out in collaboration with Prof. Edward Chapman and Prof. Qiang Cui, from the University of Wisconsin.
- The RSC’s 5th International Symposium on Advancing the Chemical Sciences (ISAC5) chaired and co-organised by Prof. Hagan Bayley was held in Manchester in the last week of July. The theme of the meeting was ‘Challenges in Chemical Biology’ with talks and poster presentations ranging from the origin of life theories to drug design. A short summary of the conference with photos is available on the Chemical Science blog.
- Many congratulations to Professor Hagan Bayley, who has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society, in recognition of his contribution towards understanding the folding, assembly and function of transmembrane channels and pores. The official announcement of this prestigious award can be found on the Royal Society website: http://royalsociety.org/about-us/fellowship/new-fellows-2011/
- Our new paper ‘Molecular dynamic simulations of DNA within a nanopore: Arginine-phosphate tethering and a binding/sliding mechanism for translocation’ has been published in Biochemistry. In collaboration with Dr. Syma Khalid (University of Southampton, UK), the simulations studied in the paper help to rationalise experimentally determined trends in residual current and translocation efficiency for αHL and its mutants.
- Fully funded DTC studentships for 2011 are now available. Check out the following link http://www.dtc.ox.ac.uk/ for more information on the projects available and how to apply.
- March 10th issue of the Economist has published an article on nanopore sequencing featuring work from our lab and Oxford Nanopore Technologies. The article titled: ‘Towards the 15-minute genome’ discusses the ongoing work in the nanopore field towards developing a system which could dramatically speed up the sequencing of human genomes.
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