Media | New UK laboratory to focus on important medical targets

New UK laboratory to focus on important medical targets

Today, Monday 1^st September 2008, the official opening of the Membrane Protein Laboratory (MPL) takes place at Diamond Light Source in Oxfordshire, UK.

Diamond is the UK’s synchrotron science facility and is one of 60 such research facilities worldwide all with different characteristics and varying purposes. The MPL is the world’s first membrane protein laboratory to be based inside a synchrotron. The new laboratory is a joint venture between Diamond Light Source and Imperial College London, with funding from the Wellcome Trust. Financial support has also been provided by Japanese Science and Technology (JST) to set up the Human Receptor Crystallography project, which funded part of the equipment and staff who currently work at the MPL.

Dr Liz Carpenter in the laboratory

Solving the structures of proteins forms a large part of the structural biology work at Diamond and the Membrane Protein Laboratory has been established to assist researchers who are working specifically on membrane proteins, which are embedded in the membranes that coat the thousands of cells in our bodies. These proteins make up around 30% of the human genome. We have over 7,000 membrane proteins in our bodies and many of these are important drug targets, in fact over 50% of current commercially available drugs target membrane proteins.

However, to date, scientists have only solved the structures of 170 membrane proteins and less than five of the 7,000 human membrane proteins. This is largely due to the fact that, in order to determine their structures, you need to crystallise the membrane proteins, which is extremely difficult to do. Having a dedicated laboratory with cutting edge equipment within the Diamond synchrotron building, close to the experimental stations where membrane protein structures can be solved, will greatly enhance scientists’ ability to successfully crystallise membrane proteins and further our understanding of these important drug targets.

Dr Momi Iwata and Dr Simone Weyand in MPL

Prof. So Iwata from Imperial College London’s Department of Life Sciences is Director of the Membrane Protein Laboratory and also a Diamond Fellow. Prof. Iwata comments, "The opening of the Membrane Protein Laboratory marks a very exciting development in the study of the most intractable of the large biological molecules: the membrane proteins. These proteins are generally avoided by structural biologists as they are a challenge to study due to the fact that they are very oily and hydrophobic. Diamond and Imperial have teamed up to create the Membrane Protein Laboratory so that expertise in this specialist field can be shared and we can encourage other structural biologists to take on the challenge of solving these difficult but extremely important proteins."

Prof. Gerd Materlik, Chief Executive of Diamond, adds, "The MPL will provide equipment and expertise to membrane protein crystallographers from around the world and we are delighted to have it sited here at Diamond, the UK’s national synchrotron science facility. This new laboratory is a vibrant symbol of the nation’s commitment to remain at the forefront of scientific endeavour and the hunt for new and more effective drugs to cure many of the most important and serious diseases. Through its work in this field, the MPL will contribute to the knowledge economy of the UK and Europe by helping to develop the health and welfare of its citizens."

Images from the day

For high-res images from the MPL launch, contact Silvana Damerell on 01235 778238 or email silvana.damerell@diamond.ac.uk; or Sarah Bucknall on 01235 778639 or email sarah.bucknall@diamond.ac.uk

Notes to Editors

The Membrane Protein Laboratory (MPL)

• For more information about the MPL, see http://www.diamond.ac.uk/Science/MPL/aboutus.htm
• The MPL at Diamond is a research and training facility for scientists interested in solving the 3-dimensional structures of membrane proteins by X-ray crystallography. The project is led by Professor So Iwata of Imperial College London and Professor Dame Louise Johnson at Diamond Light Source. The MPL is a joint venture between the Diamond Light Source and Imperial College London, with funding from the Wellcome Trust.
• The MPL is a facility that is open to applications from laboratories anywhere in the world. Visitors can come for a few days or a few weeks to learn how we crystallise membrane proteins and to set up crystallisation trials using our robotic crystallisation system.

Diamond Light Source

• Diamond generates extremely intense pin-point beams of synchrotron light of exceptional quality ranging from x-rays, ultra-violet and infrared. For example Diamond’s x-rays are around 100 billion times brighter than a standard hospital X-ray machine or 10 billion times brighter than the sun.
• Many of our everyday commodities that we take for granted, from food manufacturing to cosmetics, from revolutionary drugs to surgical tools, from computers to mobile phones, have all been developed or improved using synchrotron light.
• Diamond will bring benefits to:

• Biology and medicine. For example, the fight against illnesses such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis and many cancers will benefit from the new research techniques available at Diamond.
• The physical and chemical sciences. For example, in the near future, engineers will be able to image their structure down to an atomic scale, helping them to understand the way impurities and defects behave and how they can be controlled.
• The Environmental and Earth sciences. For example, Diamond will help researchers to identify organisms that target specific types of contaminant in the environment which can potentially lead to identifying cheap and effective ways for cleaning polluted land.

Imperial College London

Imperial College London - rated the world’s fifth best university in the 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement University Rankings - is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts 12,000 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality.

Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and business, delivering practical solutions that improve quality of life and the environment - underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture.

Website: www.imperial.ac.uk

The Wellcome Trust

The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending around £600 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing.

Website: www.wellcome.ac.uk