Professor Sir Alan Fersht FRS | Page 21 | Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

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Our major research programme concerns the folding, stability and activity of proteins. We apply a broad multi-disciplinary approach that combines methods and ideas of molecular biology and physical-organic chemistry. We use techniques including protein engineering, DNA cloning, sequencing and mutagenesis, cell culture, gene and peptide synthesis, spectroscopy, rapid reaction techniques, multi-dimensional NMR (we have a 500, 600, 700 and an 800 MHz spectrometers) and x-ray protein crystallography.

Current major projects include: protein folding, misfolding and disease; drug discovery; and structure-activity relationships of proteins involved in cancer and disease.

Although now emeritus, I am still fully active in research with long term funding, including an MRC Programme Grant.

Publications

Crystal Structures of Engrailed Homeodomain Mutants

EJ Stollar, U Mayor, SC Lovell, L Federici, SMV Freund, AR Fersht, BF Luisi

– Journal of Biological Chemistry

(2003)

278,

43699

(doi: 10.1074/jbc.m308029200)

Rapid amyloid fiber formation from the fast-folding WW domain FBP28

N Ferguson, J Berriman, M Petrovich, TD Sharpe, JT Finch, AR Fersht

– Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

(2003)

100,

9814

(doi: 10.1073/pnas.1333907100)

Mimicking natural evolution in vitro: an N-acetylneuraminate lyase mutant with an increased dihydrodipicolinate synthase activity.

AC Joerger, S Mayer, AR Fersht

– Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

(2003)

100,

5694

(doi: 10.1073/pnas.0531477100)

Kinetic Instability of p53 Core Domain Mutants IMPLICATIONS FOR RESCUE BY SMALL MOLECULES*

A Friedler, DB Veprintsev, LO Hansson, AR Fersht

– The Journal of biological chemistry

(2003)

278,

24108

(doi: 10.1074/jbc.m302458200)

The complete folding pathway of a protein from nanoseconds to microseconds.

U Mayor, NR Guydosh, CM Johnson, JG Grossmann, S Sato, GS Jas, SMV Freund, DOV Alonso, V Daggett, AR Fersht

– Nature

(2003)

421,

863

(doi: 10.1038/nature01428)

Early events in protein folding.

N Ferguson, AR Fersht

– Current Opinion in Structural Biology

(2003)

13,

75

(doi: 10.1016/s0959-440x(02)00009-x)

Is there a unifying mechanism for protein folding?

V Daggett, AR Fersht

– Trends in biochemical sciences

(2003)

28,

18

(doi: 10.1016/S0968-0004(02)00012-9)

Sequential unfolding of ankyrin repeats in tumor suppressor p16.

KS Tang, AR Fersht, LS Itzhaki

– Structure

(2003)

11,

67

(doi: 10.1016/S0969-2126(02)00929-2)

Molecular mechanism of the interaction between MDM2 and p53

O Schon, A Friedler, M Bycroft, SMV Freund, AR Fersht

– J Mol Biol

(2002)

323,

491

(doi: 10.1016/S0022-2836(02)00852-5)

On the simulation of protein folding by short time scale molecular dynamics and distributed computing

AR Fersht

– Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

(2002)

99,

14122

(doi: 10.1073/pnas.182542699)