Division of Structural Biology

The Division of Structural Biology aims to describe the structural and biochemical properties of proteins and the complexes they form, in order to understand the significance of these proteins in the development and treatment of cancer.

Aims, facilities and activity in this division

Researchers in the division use a variety of biochemical and biophysical techniques to understand protein structures, with a particular focus on X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy.

By combining structural biology with biochemistry and functional studies, researchers are able to gain an understanding of important biochemical interactions in the spread of cancer throughout a patient’s body.

Consequently, several group leaders in Structural biology have joint appointments with other divisions (e.g. Cancer Biology and Cancer Therapeutics) to facilitate the exploitation of the molecular understanding of biological mechanisms in the development of new cancer therapies.

Current research activities include studying key cancer stem cell signalling processes , the role of the proteasome and the Cop9 signalosome in protein degradation and turnover, and transcription regulation .

All of these research areas have the potential to open up novel therapeutic strategies. The division also uses high-throughput screening on a variety of cancer targets, in order to identify and develop potential new candidate drugs for cancer therapy .

Video: ICR researchers led by Professor Alessandro Vannini have captured images of molecular machinery called RNA Polymerase III in the act of transcribing a gene in exquisite and unprecedented detail.

Division leadership

Professor Laurence Pearl

Head of Division:

Vannini Group, Macromolecular Structural Biology

Professor Pearl seeks to understand the structural basis for assembly, specificity and regulation of the multi-protein complexes involved in the recognition, repair and signalling of DNA damage, and in the chaperone-mediated stabilisation and activation of cellular signalling pathways. These basic studies provide the means for discovery and development of novel small-molecule inhibitors with application as drugs for the treatment of cancer and other diseases.

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Professor Sebastian Guettler

Deputy Head of Division:

Structural Biology of Cell Signalling

Professor Sebastian Guettler is Deputy Head of the Division of Structural Biology. He studies the precise molecular mechanisms of signalling processes central to cancer stem cell function, with a particular interest in Wnt/β-catenin signalling, telomere length homeostasis and their regulation by ADP-ribosylation. He has a long-standing interest in understanding tankyrase, a poly-ADP-ribosyltransferase with roles in both Wnt/β-catenin signalling and telomere maintenance.

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