A rigorous experimental framework for detecting protein oligomerization using bioluminescence resonance energy transfer
James JR, Oliveira MI, Carmo AM, Iaboni A, Davis SJ. (2006), Nat Methods. 3, 1001-6
My PhD studies on Dictyostelium developmental biochemistry, also at Flinders, were supervised by John Wheldrake. It had been John who suggested, in one of his undergraduate classes, that all biochemistry students should read “The Double Helix” by JD Watson (Fig. 1). I read it and learnt two things: the thrill of discovery and that, when it really counts, it’s not about where you’re from but simply a matter of how good your ideas are versus the next person’s. Under John’s influence I developed an abiding interest in the cell surface and became particularly impressed by the pioneering work of Alan Williams and Neil Barclay on the T-cell surface at the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) Cellular Immunology Unit in Oxford. During a brief stint in California at UC San Diego as a visiting student in the laboratories of Hud Freeze and Ajit Varki, I became aware of the power of molecular biological techniques and the need to do medically-oriented research as a long-term career strategy.
In 1987 I secured a post-doctoral position in Alan William’s laboratory and thereafter was able to focus on T-cell surface biology myself (Fig. 2,3). Neil had begun introducing into the laboratory approaches for the production of large amounts of high-quality protein for structural and functional studies, and I was the first beneficiary of this. Collaborations with Shinji Ikemizu, Yvonne Jones, Dave Stuart and, in particular, Anton van der Merwe, were subsequently critical to our work. In 1995 I established my own laboratory in what is now the Radcliffe Department of Medicine, and I am now based at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, which is led by KJ Patel. I am also a member of the MRC Translational Immune Discovery Unit, directed by Alison Simmons.
Solving the glycosylation problem for glycoprotein crystallization (1993)
Crystallizing and determining the structure of the first cell adhesion protein (1992)
Identifying the structural basis of weak, specific recognition at the cell surface (1998)
The KS model (1996; with PA van der Merwe)
Determining the composition of the T-cell surface (2003), and solving GPCR stoichiometry (2015).
Our laboratory’s work is sponsored principally by The Wellcome Trust and also by the MRC.
James JR, Oliveira MI, Carmo AM, Iaboni A, Davis SJ. (2006), Nat Methods. 3, 1001-6
Evans EJ, Esnouf RM, Manso-Sancho R, Gilbert RJ, James JR, Yu C, Fennelly JA, Vowles C, Hanke T, Walse B, Hünig T, Sørensen P, Stuart DI, Davis SJ. (2005), Nat Immunol. 6, 271-9
Evans EJ, Hene L, Sparks LM, Dong T, Retiere C, Fennelly JA, Manso-Sancho R, Powell J, Braud VM, Rowland-Jones SL, McMichael AJ, Davis SJ. (2003), Immunity. 19, 213-23
Collins AV, Brodie DW, Gilbert RJ, Iaboni A, Manso-Sancho R, Walse B, Stuart DI, van der Merwe PA, Davis SJ. (2002), Immunity. 17, 201-10
Brodie D, Collins AV, Iaboni A, Fennelly JA, Sparks LM, Xu XN, van der Merwe PA, Davis SJ. (2000), Curr Biol. 10, 333-6
Ikemizu S, Gilbert RJ, Fennelly JA, Collins AV, Harlos K, Jones EY, Stuart DI, Davis SJ. (2000), Immunity. 12, 51-60
Davis SJ, Davies EA, Tucknott MG, Jones EY, van der Merwe PA. (1998), Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 95, 5490-4
Davis SJ, van der Merwe PA. (1996), Immunol Today. 17, 177-87
Davis SJ, Puklavec MJ, Ashford DA, Harlos K, Jones EY, Stuart DI, Williams AF. (1993), Protein Eng. 6, 229-32
Jones EY, Davis SJ, Williams AF, Harlos K, Stuart DI. (1992), Nature. 360, 232-9