Applications are invited for the two 7-week CMSB Summer Bursaries available this year.  The aim of the bursary scheme is to promote new collaborations between the CMSB and cell/molecular biologists, leading to novel biochemistry projects based on eukaryotic systems with relevance to human health/well-being.

Details of the Summer Bursary Scheme

·         Applications must involve at least two NRP-based research groups, one of which must be part of the CMSB, and must be focussed on a eukaryotic system with clear relevance to human health/well-being (but needn’t involve human macromolecules).  Either group can lead the application.

·         Applications must include a named researcher who will take up the bursary. The scheme is aimed at students who have just finished their degree programmes (who already have significant experience of laboratory-based work), but others are not excluded (i.e. mid-year undergraduates will also be considered).

·         Applications will be judged primarily on the quality and strategic relevance of the science, but the background and suitability of the nominated student will also be taken into account.

·         Each bursary project will run for 7 weeks and provides £180 per week for the student.

·         A brief report on the outcome of the project will be required within one month of the end date; an edited version will appear on the CMSB website.

Completed application forms should be submitted electronically to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by 17.00 on 30th March. A decision on which applications will be supported will be known by the end of April.

Download the application form [DOC]

Eukaryotic biochemistry with relevance to human health/well-being

Within the CMSB, studies of systems derived from eukaryotic organisms with direct relevance to human health and well-being are currently under-represented. This is an area which connects with the NRP’s Food and Health Alliance (FAHA), and research that addresses issues related to human health and well-being is a major area of importance identified by the BBSRC in its Strategic Plan (2010-15) and its Delivery Plan (2011-15).  There are clear opportunities on the NRP to develop this area of research, with a significant number of groups in BIO, PHA, MED, the IFR and the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital working on problems associated with key processes in eukaryotic cells.  In 2011, to initiate new interactions between eukaryotic cell biologists and biophysical chemists/biochemists, the CMSB launched a summer internship scheme, to provide two 7-week internships to run over the summer of each year.  The intention is to support projects that have the potential to exploit, in the relative short term, the in vitro biophysical technologies/expertise available in the CMSB. It is envisaged that projects supported through the scheme will continue, e.g. through undergraduate/Masters’ research projects, PhD studentship applications etc., leading eventually to major applications to Research Council/major charity organisations.

CMSB Bursaries 2011

The two recipients of the CMSB Bursaries in 2011 were Sophie Bennett (working with Andrew Hemmings and Nathalie Juge) and  Lloyd Wahl (working with Tharin Blumenschein, Surinder Soond and Andrew Chantry), and reports on their projects can be found below.

Sophie Bennett:

Probing the Molecular Basis for Recognition of the Thomsen-Friedenreich Antigen by Human Galectin-3 using X-ray Crystallography

Circulatory human galectin-3 interacts with cancer-specific glycoconjugates such as the Thomsen-Friedenreich carbohydrate antigen (TF; Galβ1-3GalNAcα1-O-Ser/Thr), promoting cancer cell adhesion and metastasis. We have investigated the molecular basis for this interaction by solving the high resolution X-ray crystal structures of the complexes of galectin-3 carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD) with two forms of the TF antigen. The results will help provide a basis for future structure-based anti-cancer drug design.  For a more detailed description of the project [PDF].

Lloyd Whal:

NMR studies on the WWP2 ubiquitin ligase WW domains as a step towards the design of novel cancer therapeutics

My project over the summer involved working in both Dr Andrew Chantry’s lab and Dr Tharin Blumenschein’s lab on the purification of segments of the WWP2 protein with a view to analysing their structures using 2D and 3D NMR which would lead on to peptide binding studies. A widely reported paper released earlier in the year by Dr Andrew Chantry and Dr Surinder Soond outlined an important role of the isoforms of WWP2, which were found to differentially bind Smads and modulate TGFβ signalling; working on structural and binding studies in this area represented an opportunity to open the door on to potentially interfering with WWP2 modulation of the TGFβ signalling pathway. To obtain high yields of WWP2, E. coli were transformed with plasmid coding for our protein of interest with a polyhistidine tag; large volumes of media were inoculated with successfully transformed colonies and production of the protein was induced in minimal media to allow Nitrogen-15 labelling. Protein was purified from cell lysates using immobilised metal affinity chromatography, the buffer was exchanged and the protein concentrated. Problems with low yield and protein solubility at the high concentrations required for NMR analysis hindered the progression of the project; troubleshooting these problems was frustrating but a great learning experience all the same, and involved interpreting protocols from research papers published by other groups which had experienced similar problems with other proteins. We progressed as far as early NMR analysis on some parts of the protein but the project has a positive future. Collaborating between a laboratory in the school of biological sciences and a laboratory in the school of chemistry was also a brilliant experience, I learnt that collaborating between two schools not only involved a lot of walking (between the two different labs), but also involved a productive fusion of ideas, approaches and perspectives.

The next CMSB Early Years Researchers’ Meeting will take place on Friday  Oct 7^th at the University of East Anglia's Lecture Theatre 4

The current program involves:

13.30 – 13.40 Welcome and introduction

13.40 – 14.10 Florian Hilbers (Max-Planck Institut für Biophysik, Frankfurt)

‘Hydrogen peroxide decomposition by aa3 cytochrome c oxidase from Paracoccus denitrificans’

14.10 – 14.40 James Tolchard (CHE)

‘Mapping the actin-binding region in the Tarp protein from Chlamydia’

14.40 – 15.10 Rebecca Handley (IFR/CHE)

‘PerR; the role of a metalloregulator in peroxide stress survival in Campylobacter’

15.10 – 15.40 Ellis O’Neil (JIC)

‘Towards the in vitro generation of a starch granule’

15.40 – 16.00 Coffee

16.00 – 16.30 Morgan Bye (CHE)

‘Combining NMR with EPR distances and in silico calculations for a more complete protein-protein interaction model’

16.30 – 17.25 Dr Sarah O’Connor (JIC/CHE)

‘Understanding and engineering alkaloid biosynthesis’

17.25 – 17.30 Closing remarks

17.30 – Drinks and nibbles (BIO Atrium)

The Centre for Molecular and Structural Biochemistry (CMSB) is once again hosting, within its research laboratories, a number of undergraduate summer students, who have obtained funding from a range of sources, including the CSMB’s own bursary scheme, as well as external funders such as The Biochemical Society and the Nuffield Foundation.

Further details of externally funded studentship schemes are available by request. These studentships are highly competitive and provide an ideal opportunity for our brightest students to gain insight into the academic research environment.

During the summer, the students will also have the opportunity to present their work, as part of a seminar series organised by Dr Tharin Blumenschein. A list of this year’s studentships can be found here [PDF]

The CMSB is launching a summer bursary scheme, beginning this year, to promote new collaborations between the CMSB and NRP-based biologists and clinicians, leading to novel eukaryotic biochemistry projects with relevance to human health/well-being.

Background

The Centre for Molecular and Structural Biochemistry is a multidisciplinary biomolecular research centre based in the Schools of Chemistry (CHE) and Biological Sciences (BIO) at UEA, which brings together scientists working at the interface between biology and chemistry in an environment that enables complementary expertise to be applied to important biological problems. The Centre actively promotes its work, for example, by hosting two scientific meetings each year where speakers include CMSB members and researchers from the Norwich Research Park (NRP), the University of Essex and the University of Cambridge. A distinctive feature of these meetings is plenary lectures delivered by high profile scientists from outside the region, which helps to raise the international profile of the Centre. A new website (www.cmsb.eu) provides a clear overview of the aims, and activities of the Centre and information about the research interests of its staff.

Eukaryotic biochemistry with relevance to human health/well-being

Within the CMSB, studies of macromolecules derived from eukaryotic organisms with direct relevance to human health and well-being are currently under-represented. Addressing this issue would allow the CMSB to better articulate with the NRP’s Food and Health Alliance (FAHA), and deliver research related to human health and well-being, which is an important element of the BBSRC’s Strategic Plan (2010-15) and Delivery Plan (2011-15) and is central to remit of the MRC/Wellcome Trust. There are clear opportunities on the NRP to develop this area of research, with groups in BIO, PHA, MED, the IFR and the Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital. To encourage interactions between biophysical chemists/biochemists and cell, developmental and organismal biologists and clinicians, the CMSB is launching a bursary scheme, starting this year, to provide two 7-week bursaries to run over this summer and for the following two years. The intention is to support new or emerging projects that have the potential to exploit, in the relative short term, the in vitro biophysical technologies/expertise available in the CMSB. It is envisaged that projects supported through the scheme will continue, e.g. through undergraduate/Masters’ research projects, PhD studentship applications etc., leading eventually to major applications to Research Council/major charity organisations.

Details of the Summer Bursary Scheme

• Applications must involve at least two NRP-based research groups, one of which must be part of the CMSB, and must be focussed on a eukaryotic system with clear relevance to human health/well-being (but needn’t involve human macromolecules). Either group can lead the application.

• Applications must include a named researcher who will take up the bursary. The scheme is aimed at students who have just finished their degree programmes (who already have significant experience of laboratory-based work), but others are not excluded (i.e. mid-year undergraduates will also be considered).

• Applications will be judged primarily on the quality and strategic relevance of the science, but the background and suitability of the nominated student will also be taken into account.

• Each bursary will run for 7 weeks and provides £180 per week for the student.

A brief report on the outcome of the bursary will be required within six weeks of the end date; an edited version will appear on the CMSB website.

Completed application forms should be submitted electronically to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it by 17.00 on 15^th April. A decision on which applications will be supported will be known by 16^th May.

Please download the application form from here