Robin Bon

Powerful messages about the opportunity to learn much more about these channels by studying structural dependence on various factors such as temperature and membrane environment. Experimental structural biology is far from finished!

Thanks to the @proteinsociety.bsky.social for organising an excellent virtual seminar on structural biology of #TRPchannels at different temperatures. Inspiring talks by Alexander Sobolevsky, Juan Du and David Julius, chaired by Yifan Cheng.

Congratulations to former PhD student Dr Aidan Johnson on winning the VC Jordan/PR Radford Prize 2025 for the best @astburycentre.bsky.social PhD thesis.

Also congratulations to PhD student Catalina Onel on passing her transfer viva yesterday.

Alan Kurdi, dead on a beach

It is very nearly the tenth anniversary of that brief moment when, for 2 or 3 days, British newspapers remembered refugees are desperate human beings who need our help, rather than scum that it's okay to threaten with violence.

Great opportunity to perform a #PhD in the field of #OrganicChemistry or #CellBiology / #Biochemistry with a great mentor in the group of Steven Verhelst (@verhelstlab.bsky.social) at KU Leuven!

#ChemBio #Academia

Journal Impact Nonsense

No matter how hard you try, you simply cannot guess the journal withe the highest “impact factor” in organic chemistry last year. Really. Nor will you guess many of the other “winners”:

(-)-Englerin A binds a conserved lipid site of TRPC5 and exposes a Met-aromatic motif in channel activation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.09.663840v1

(-)-Englerin A binds a conserved lipid site of TRPC5 and exposes a Met-aromatic motif in channel activation TRPC4/5 cation channels are polymodal cellular sensors that play key roles in signal transduction/integration and have been implicated in various human pathologies, including anxiety, pain and cardiom...

We thank our BBSRC @ukri.org, @thebhf.bsky.social, @wellcometrust.bsky.social, @royalsociety.org, @universityofleeds.bsky.social, and the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic for funding, and the incredible @astbury-bsl.bsky.social for facilities and support.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

This work was led by #cryoEM wizard Seb Porav, in a fantastic collaboration with Sasha Ptakova, @claudiabauer.bsky.social, @kasiahammond.bsky.social, David Beech, Viki Vlachova and @stemuench.bsky.social.

@astburycentre.bsky.social @bioscienceleeds.bsky.social @iphys-cas.bsky.social

In summary, we believe that this work represents a leap forward in understanding the #MolecularPharmacology of TRPC1/4/5 channels that will prove instrumental in TRPC1/4/5 drug discovery programmes.

In addition, our analyses allow us to rationalise the selectivity of EA with respect to related ion channels, as well as the pharmacological profile of TRPC1/4/5 inhibitors in ongoing clinical trials.

Structural similarity between TRPC1, TRPC4 and TRPC5, and the conservation of the EA binding site, suggest that our results extrapolate more generally to the TRPC1/4/5 sub-family – an emerging class of therapeutic targets for the treatment of anxiety disorders, cardiometabolic disease and pain.

We show that EA binds to a conserved lipid binding site between TRPC5 transmembrane domains and alters the aromatic interaction network of Phe520 with surrounding methionine residues. This work underscores the critical function of Met-aromatic motifs in ion channel #StructuralBiology and function.

We present nine new, high-resolution cryoEM structures of the human #TRPC5 #IonChannel in various states that reveal where and how EA binds to TRPC5 and - in combination with functional studies of TRPC5 variants - allow us to understand key molecular rearrangements related to channel gating.

#TRPchannels mediate cellular responses to various #NaturalProducts. #EnglerinA (EA), found in a plant used as a traditional medicine and a poison, is a potent and selective TRPC1/4/5 activator. However, how EA interacts with these channels has remained a mystery – until now.

Structure of human TRPC5 in complex with the plant nature product (-)-englerin A

We are proud to share our latest preprint: "(-)-Englerin A binds a conserved lipid site of TRPC5 and exposes a Met-aromatic motif in channel activation".

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

To see all 16 articles, please follow this link: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

It has been great working with Matthew Langton to edit this themed issue of Current Opinion in Chemical Biology on Ion Transport across Biological Membranes. The collection of 16 articles is now complete.

Thanks to all authors and reviewers!

#ChemicalBiology

authors.elsevier.com/a/1lHil4sz6M...

An absolute pleasure to host @thornsesholdlab.bsky.social in Leeds today for an amazing @astburycentre.bsky.social seminar.

Couple trying unsuccessfully to use the self-scan passport gates at Schiphol, holding up the queue. Border guard over intercom: "Mr and Mrs Campbell, this is for European passports only - you voted for Brexit".

"These look similar...let's mix them"

They probably cannot believe you would not want to be a most distinguished speaker at the 3rd Global Summit on Greater Hog Badger Genetics

Interesting paper that we discussed in a recent group meeting. A lot of the things we like: ROS, reactive Cys, S-palmitoylation, nicely designed bioresponsive probes, mitochondrial targeting, cell imaging.

RSC Chem. Biol. and @orgbiomolchem.rsc.org are proud to offer our support to the 2025 RSC Chemical Biology & Bioinorganic Group Postgraduate Symposium. Taking place 13 June in Aberdeen, United Kingdom, this meeting features exciting work from early career researchers: www.rsc.org/events/detai...

May be a good one for the whole group...

Oh this looks great!

Nominations for the CBBG Lectureship Award are now open! Get your nominations in by 30th April, to recognise individuals who have made excellent contributions to both research and the UK chemical biology community.

www.rsc.org/membership-a...

🚨 Chemical Biology & Probes study section (formerly SBCB, one of two NIH panels that reviews chemistry #chemsky 🧪) was abruptly POSTPONED w/no specific plans for rescheduling, less than 24h before start.

If this affects you call your reps & senators, talk to local news, make your voice heard 📢 👩‍🔬

How have I managed without these for 46 years?

Nominations for this year's CBBG Lectureship Award will be opening in March - so get thinking of scientists who have made major scientific and community contributions to our chemical biology community! Self-nominations are permitted, we'll be back with further details when nominations open