Sparkling with success – Diamond fellowship awarded to Imperial life scientist

New professorial fellowship from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council<em> - News</em>

By Danielle Reeves
Monday 20 July 2009

An Imperial College London scientist who analyses important proteins found in the membranes of human cells has been awarded the first ever 'Diamond Fellowship' of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), it is announced today.

The Diamond Professorial Fellowship of approximately £2 million has been awarded to Professor So Iwata from Imperial's Division of Molecular Biosciences, for a five-year project to study the structure and behaviour of 'transporter' proteins embedded in the oily membranes that coat the cells in our bodies.

The new Diamond Fellowship is named after the Diamond Light Source in Oxfordshire, the UK's national synchrotron facility, where Professor Iwata's membrane protein lab is based. The Diamond Light Source consists of a doughnut- shaped building the size of five football pitches, around the centre of which electrons are accelerated to almost the speed of light. When electrons are accelerated on a circular path like this, they lose energy in the form of extremely powerful X-rays which are guided to a series of experimental stations. Professor Iwata and his colleagues will use these X-rays to perform extremely high-resolution analysis of proteins' structures.

The Diamond Light Source, where Professor Iwata carries out his research

Professor Iwata will use the BBSRC Fellowship funding to set up a new laboratory in the Medical Research Council's research complex at Harwell – next door to the Diamond Light Source – where he and his team will prepare membrane proteins for analysis at Diamond.

The transporter proteins that Professor Iwata is particularly interested in are responsible for the uptake and release of various substances - including sugars, amino acids, drugs and minerals - into or out of the cell. As such, they play crucial roles in many important biological functions, and are important potential targets for new drugs to treat a large number of diseases.

Understanding more about these proteins' molecular structures and how they work is vital, explains Professor Iwata:

"These transporter proteins are the gateway to our cells, so they're massively important, but very little is known about them, or how exactly they work. Our aim is to solve the structure of some of these proteins in order to improve our basic understanding of life at the molecular level.

"Additionally, if we can unravel the secrets of these proteins' functions, then drug developers could use this knowledge to design new small-molecule drugs that target and inhibit one of these individual proteins, without interfering with others nearby, thus reducing patient side effects," he said.

Researchers in Professor Iwata's lab prepare membrane protein crystals

Professor Iwata's award is one of 16 new research fellowships announced by the BBSRC today. The idea behind the new Diamond Fellowship is to support research that harnesses synchrotron radiation to answer questions in the life sciences.

Speaking about the newly awarded Fellowships, the Minister of State for Science and Innovation, Lord Drayson, said: "The UK is already a world leader in biosciences research. These fellowships from BBSRC will help us maintain our lead and give some of our most outstanding bioscientists an extra boost.

"It is vital that we nurture scientists throughout their careers, as they will be essential to helping us tackle the major challenges we face."

All 16 Fellowships allow researchers to concentrate exclusively on conducting world-class research to tackle serious scientific questions. The 2009 BBSRC Fellows will be tackling bioscience issues including increasing crop yields, accelerated therapeutic drug development and better understanding of the natural world.

All images courtesy of Diamond Light Source

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