Chris Mulligan

Environmental cues in different host niches shape the survival fitness of Staphylococcus aureus - Nature Communications Staphylococcus aureus adapts to diverse host environments during infection. Here, the authors use transposon sequencing to reveal niche-specific genes and identify 27 core genes required for S. aureus...

Exciting new paper from Wonsik Lee's group in Korea, using TnSeq to study gene essentiality in various intracellular and extracellular infection niches of S aureus. Loads of cool insights into metabolism and nutrient acquisition in the host

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Characterised members of the human SLC25 mitochondrial family. Members of the mitochondrial carriers are shown in rainbow (blue to red) cartoon and surface representations with their primary substrates shown in sphere representations to scale. Only one paralogue is shown.

Our review on the peculiar properties of mitochondrial carriers of the SLC25 family out: portlandpress.com/biochemj/art...

Carrier-mediated transport as a common route of antibiotic ingress into bacteria - PubMed Increasing antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria is undermining our ability to treat infection, and new antibacterial drugs are urgently needed to address the problem. One of the most signif...

Just seen this very clever paper from Alex O'Neill's group at Leeds. Systematic approaches to identify routes of antibiotic uptake in S. aureus and E. coli! As someone who never believed the dogma of passive diffusion, I feel very vindicated.. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40631918/

Super excited to share our latest work revealing impt of protein-lipid interactions for the pri fn of the Tol-Pal complex in maintaining outer memb lipid homeostasis in E. coli! Huge discovery by Nadege Lim in collab @pstansfeld.bsky.social @robincorey.bsky.social 1/7
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Photo of a Sauer Membrane Protein group party, why space for a new hire

Join our group in the Centre for Medicines Discovery at Oxford Univ. @cmd.ox.ac.uk @ox.ac.uk !!!!

Happy to chat about any questions about the role and science. Oxford will assist with a skilled worker visa.

Please RT!

my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

Structure and assembly of the MmpL5/MmpS5 efflux transporter from Mycobacterium tuberculosis - Nature Communications The MmpL5/MmpS5 efflux system is crucial for drug extrusion and siderophore export in M. tuberculosis. Here, the authors report its high-resolution cryo-EM structures, revealing a unique trimeric asse...

Really excited that our group was able to contribute to this awesome work from Bing Zhang and Zihe Rao solving the structure and assembly of the MmpS5L5 efflux pump from Mtb!!

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Discovery and chemical optimisation of a potent, Bi-cyclic antimicrobial inhibitor of Escherichia coli PBP3 Communications Biology - Discovery of a bicyclic peptide inhibitor of cell wall biosynthesis in the Enterobacterales demonstrates applicability of a modified phage display platform to antibiotic...

Beta-lactams covalently bind to Penicillin Binding Proteins and have been the mainstay of antimicrobial chemotherapy for decades.
In this new paper with colleagues @Bicycle_tx we show a new way to hit old targets: rdcu.be/eoaRI

How sugar fuels ATP production in the mitochondrion | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) posted on the topic | LinkedIn Ever wonder why sugar gives us such an energy buzz? Its breakdown product, pyruvate, fuels ATP production in the mitochondrion. Dr. Lucy Forrest, an #NINDSIntramural investigator, and collaborators re...

Are you wondering how sugar is used to fuel your body? Work with @mitocarriers.bsky.social and Vanessa Leone describes an important step along the way... how the break-down product pyruvate gets into the mitochondria!

A very satisfying application of #alphafold3

www.linkedin.com/posts/nation...

The Role of Chloride Ions in Serotonin Transport https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.20.654092v1

New Type VII ABC Transporter just dropped!

We are super excited to present our characterisation of the YbbAP-TesA complex, a novel Type VII ABC transporter linked to a periplasmic thioesterase.

doi.org/10.1101/2025...

Structure of YbbAP-TesA: a Type VII ABC transporter lipid-hydrolase complex https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.16.654284v1

Today is SLC13A5 Epilepsy International Awareness Day, I'm reminded in an email this morning from Kim Nye, founder of TESS Research Foundation.
Read more here: www.tessresearch.org/awareness/ and …

Single-molecule visualization of ATP-induced dynamics of the subunit composition of an ECF transporter complex under turnover conditions Nature Communications - The association and dissociation dynamics of the ECF transporter complex for vitamin B12 are visualized by single-molecule FRET, highlighting the original transport...

Solène’s 4.5 years of postdoctoral work in our lab (she started just before the corona pandemic) has now been published. A heroic effort that revealed -at the single molecule level- that ATP drives the dissociation of an ECF transporter complex under turnover conditions. See rdcu.be/elTKc

A short intrinsically disordered region at KtrB’s N-terminus facilitates allosteric regulation of K+ channel KtrAB Nature Communications - KtrAB is a major potassium uptake system that has been linked to the pathogenesis of many infectious bacteria. Here the authors show that KtrB from Vibrio alginolyticus...

This took us a while and I am all the happier it is finally out! I thought that simply adding ATP to purified potassium channel KtrAB should be sufficient to stabilize its active state. I was so wrong...
Read the full story on how an IDR facilitates channel opening upon membrane interaction.

Got any great final year students who love the bench but don't (yet) want to do a PhD? I'm looking for a research technician to join our amazing AVERT team for the last 2 years of the project - a great chance to develop lab skills while supporting our team in York.
jobs.york.ac.uk/vacancy/rese...

Why are biological membranes asymmetric, with different lipids in the two bilayer leaflets? Discovered in the 70s, lipid asymmetry is linked to many cellular processes, but why the cell needs it is largely unclear. @pavelbarahtjan.bsky.social addresses this question: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Just posted on bioRxiv!

We reveal the structure of the MurJ/LysM (JM) complex.
A small phage protein, LysM (37 residues), binds to MurJ like a wedge and freezes its motion.

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

Only 5 more days left to apply. Take the chance and join us trying to understand the molecular mechanisms of conjugation, in beautiful Umeå, Sweden. We are extremely well equipped, and are looking for an enthusiastic person to join our team! 😀

Molecular basis of pyruvate transport and inhibition of the human mitochondrial pyruvate carrier The mitochondrial pyruvate carrier transport mechanism is ΔpH driven and is inhibited competitively by distinct compound classes.

Our paper is finally out: Molecular basis of pyruvate transport and inhibition of the human mitochondrial pyruvate carrier | Science Advances www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
#mitochondria #cryo-EM

I started on this around 2006 so only taken 20 years! The project itself started over 30 years ago. Great to finally see the elusive structure.

Two ERC-funded postdoc positions available in the team - one here and second to follow - please repost! jobs.ncl.ac.uk/job/Newcastl...

Probing the mechanism of peptidoglycan amidase activation by FtsEX-EnvC The FtsEX-EnvC-AmiA/B system is a key component of the E. coli cell division machinery that directs breakage of the peptidoglycan layer during separation of daughter cells. Structural and mechanistic ...

New preprint!

FtsEX-EnvC is a Type VII ABC transporter that activates the periplasmic enzymes needed to break the peptidoglycan layer during cell division.

We tested the importance of structural features underpinning activation and the auto-inhibition mechanism that keeps it all in check.

Shout-out to @pierredupuy.bsky.social and colleagues!
Excited to share our latest study, where we uncovered a previously unknown bacterial defense system in M. #tuberculosis: effluxosomes — dynamic membrane clusters that coordinate resistance to multiple toxic metals.
shorturl.at/Ek0HD
#MicroSky

Molecular principles of redox-coupled sodium pumping of the ancient Rnf machinery - Nature Communications The Rnf complex is a key respiratory enzyme of anaerobes and nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Here, the authors combine structural, computational, and biochemical experiments to probe the unique redox-couple...

Very proud to share our latest work on the molecular principles of the ancient the Na+-pumping Rnf complex – now out in Nature Comms @natureportfolio.nature.com: Thank you Schuller & Müller Labs for the great collaboration, and @kawresearch.bsky.social for funding: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The work was a collaboration with Nate Traaseth. Hope the method will help others solve structures of small membrane proteins in multiple conformations. The fusion strategy can be seen as a tribute to the late Ron Kaback, who attempted a similar approach with crystallizing the LacY 30 years ago.

Da-Neng Wang (@danengw.bsky.social) Structural biologist, professor, NYU School of Medicine. Alum of: Skirball Institute, EMBL, Univ Stockholm, Acad Sin, NEU. Personal account.

A warm welcome to the one-and-only Da-Neng Wang danengw.bsky.social!

The last resort antibiotic daptomycin exhibits two independent antibacterial mechanisms of action https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.12.20.629673v1

So happy our pre-print on daptomycin mechanism of action is now out! Here, we present three main findings: i) daptomycin does not form large membrane pores in either B. subtilis or S. aureus, (1/3)

I was just looking at grant app from Jan that wasn't funded and I was tickled by this formatting weirdness that described it as "100% unsuccessful".

As if to say, "It wasn't even a *little bit* successful, so don't get any ideas!"

It was completely maxed out in its level of unsuccessfulness!

BBSRC NWD: Structural Proteomics to spatially resolve interactions with mechanosensitive synaptic scaffold proteins at University of Liverpool on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - BBSRC NWD: Structural Proteomics to spatially resolve interactions with mechanosensitive synaptic scaffold proteins at University of Liverpool, listed on FindAPhD.com

*Fully funded PhD position available in the lab*

We will use structural proteomics to map the mechanosensitive interactions of talin in dendritic spines and how they change during long term potentiation.

Please share, and email for details :)

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...