Developing a Hydrogen/Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry (HDX-MS) Platform to Study the Structure and Assembly of Bacterial Nanocompartments.

细菌纳米区室（BNC）是包含中空二十面体多聚体蛋白质笼的大蛋白质组装体，所述中空二十面体多聚体蛋白质笼可以将一系列“货物”蛋白质（通常是酶）隔离在内部。该项目将开发氢/氘交换质谱（HDX-MS）技术，以研究BNC的结构，动力学和组装。这些质谱研究将补充现有的结构生物学研究，使用X射线晶体学和电子显微镜。了解这些迷人的系统将允许他们未来的操纵作为生物技术，合成生物学和药物输送的潜在平台。学生将在一个高度跨学科的团队中工作，涵盖化学，生物学和工程学等学科。学生将学习蛋白质质谱，重组蛋白生产，生物化学和结构生物学的技能。蛋白质晶体学和电子显微镜将与纽卡斯尔大学的Jon Marles-Wright博士（www.marles-wright-lab.org）合作进行。

Bacterial nanocompartments (BNCs) are large protein assemblies comprising a hollow icosahedral multimeric protein cage which can sequester a range of 'cargo' protein (often enzymes) inside. This project will develop techniques in hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) to study the structure, dynamics and assembly of BNCs. These mass spectrometry studies will complement existing structural biology studies using X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy. Understanding these fascinating systems will allow their future manipulation as potential platforms for biotechnology, synthetic biology, and drug delivery. The student will work in a highly interdisciplinary team spanning the disciplines of chemistry, biology and engineering. The student will learn skills in protein mass spectrometry, recombinant protein production, biochemistry, and structural biology. Protein crystallography and electron microscopy will be performed in collaboration with Dr. Jon Marles-Wright, University of Newcastle (www.marles-wright-lab.org).