Apoptosis is the principle pathway that targets cells for programmed death and is required for removal of faulty cells, for example due to viral infection or cancer. Defective cell death can contribute to disease in various settings including cancers, heart attack, stroke or degenerative disease (Moldoveanu and Czabotar, Cold Spring Harbour Perpec Biol 2020 vol 12).
We are interested in understanding how the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and Bak, members of the BCL-2 protein family, promote apoptosis. To understand this we will characterise 3D structures of Bax using X-ray crystallography and CryoEM. In addition we will characterise binding of ligands to Bax using a combination of structural and biophysical techniques.
The project will suit students interested in protein crystallography, structural biology, drug discovery and protein-ligand interactions.