Objective This Proof of Concept proposal is designed to develop and test a novel way of monitoring the effects of drug binding to membrane protein targets. The idea stems from the basic research proposed in my ERC grant IMPRESS to study and rationalise the release of membrane proteins from detergent micelles in the gas phase of the mass spectrometer. During this research we discovered a new family of detergents, which we could formulate, to retain folded protein structure in the gas phase. Having achieved this goal, we then actively unfolded these assemblies in the mass spectrometer and by monitoring their unfolding trajectories we realised that we could quantify the effects of small molecule binding on protein stability. Not only can we now rank ligands according to their ability to confer stability but we can also count the number of molecules bound to a particular membrane protein target. By distinguishing bound molecules, either lipids or drugs, we can then carry out competitive binding experiments by displacing small molecules with higher affinity ligands. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculeslipids Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-PoC-2014 - ERC Proof of Concept Grant Call for proposal ERC-2014-PoC See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant Coordinator THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD Net EU contribution € 145 501,00 Address Wellington square university offices OX1 2JD Oxford United Kingdom See on map Region South East (England) Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Oxfordshire Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,25 Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD United Kingdom Net EU contribution € 145 501,00 Address Wellington square university offices OX1 2JD Oxford See on map Region South East (England) Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Oxfordshire Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,25
