Increasing our understanding of biomolecular interactions through high resolution Atomic Force Microscopy 

 

My research interests lie in understanding how variations in DNA structure can affect fundamental biological processes such as replication and transcription. To that end I am motivated by determining biomolecular mechanisms of action, with a long-term view to improved development of therapeutics. My scientific achievements include the first observation of single-molecule variations in the Watson-Crick double-helix structure. I have been awarded both MRC and EPSRC fellowships to investigate the effect of DNA structure and topology on DNA-protein binding interactions. This work aims to improve our understanding of anti-cancer and antibacterial therapeutics and their targets towards an improved drug discovery pipeline. 

 
 
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MMC 2019
MMC 2019

MMC2019 was a very proud moment for me, to watch my first PhD student Kavit Main, give an absolutely outstanding talk, the day after his graduation, and present an engaging clear, and stunning talk. Well done Kavit!

Sell-out talk at Pint of Science #pint19
Sell-out talk at Pint of Science #pint19

Alice gave a sold out out talk at London’s ‘Atoms to Galaxies’ Pint of Science event. If you missed it, the abstract is here

Caught in the act - catching the membrane attack complex on camera
Caught in the act - catching the membrane attack complex on camera

Our immune system relies on nanomachines, such as the membrane attack complex (MAC) to kill invasive bacteria in our blood. Our research, published in the EMBO journal and Nature Communications, provides us with a better understanding of how the immune system kills bacteria. This may guide the development of new therapies that harness the immune system against bacterial infections, and strategies that repurpose the immune system to act against other rogue cells in the body.

Our DNA research is featured in Forbes Magazine
Our DNA research is featured in Forbes Magazine

For #DNADay19 Eva Amsen has written an article discussing what how we can ‘see’ DNA, and what we can learn about its structure from ‘seeing’ it.

You can read the article here

Untangling DNA - one molecule at a time at BIRS: The Topology of Nucleic Acids
Untangling DNA - one molecule at a time at BIRS: The Topology of Nucleic Acids

Alice is visiting the Banff International Research Station (BIRS) in Banff, Alberta to present our work on DNA topology at The Topology of Nucleic Acids: Research at the Interface of Low-Dimensional Topology, Polymer Physics and Molecular Biology.

If you’d like to see the talk, you can watch it here.

'Targeting Twist' at the Physics of Life PolNET2 2018 Symposium
'Targeting Twist' at the Physics of Life PolNET2 2018 Symposium

On the 10th December 2018, Kavit attended the ‘Physics of Life PoLNET2 2018 Symposium: Molecules, Mechanics, Medicine and More!’ at the University of York. The interdisciplinary symposium aimed to showcase collaborative projects across Biology and Physics with discussions ranging from evolution to epigenetics.

Paper published: creating new antibiotics from our own immune system
Paper published: creating new antibiotics from our own immune system

New antibiotics are desperately needed: without them antimicrobial resistance is predicted to kill more people than cancer. An international collaboration between scientists at the London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN), University of Oxford, IBM, STFC Daresbury Laboratory and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has shown that our own bodies may provide an answer.

Kavit Main has joined the group to carry out his MSc research project
Kavit Main has joined the group to carry out his MSc research project

Kavit Main has joined the group to carry out a research project for his MSc in Cancer at the UCL Cancer Institute. His project aims to use Atomic Force Microscopy to gain single-molecule insights into supercoiled DNA-topoisomerase interactions.

Aside from academia, Kavit practises Nasta’liq and Devanagari calligraphy, Mughal miniature painting and enjoys Urdu poetry and hiking. 

Mimicking viruses from inside out using DNA origami
Mimicking viruses from inside out using DNA origami

The cover of the current issue of ACS Synthetic Biology highlights the our collaborative research project with UCL Chemistry and the National Physical Laboratory to engineer a programmable inside-out “virus”. This everted “virus” is designed to deliver functional proteins into live cells.

Twitter @alicepyne

Instagram @dna_afm

Some non-DNA work. Dividing E.coli bacteria imaged by AFM. _______ #AFM #image #microscopy #bacteria #ecoli #divising #biology #science #stem #life #research
Some non-DNA work. Dividing E.coli bacteria imaged by AFM. _______ #AFM #image #microscopy #bacteria #ecoli #divising #biology #science #stem #life #research
Visit our website for the latest updates about our group and research! https://www.alicepyne.com __________ #research #researchgroup #website #dna #afm #biophysics #biomolecules #ucl #lcn
Visit our website for the latest updates about our group and research! https://www.alicepyne.com __________ #research #researchgroup #website #dna #afm #biophysics #biomolecules #ucl #lcn
Gyrase/DNA Gyrase is a type II bacterial topoisomerase that has the unique ability to induce negative supercoiling in DNA through a 'wrapping' mechanism. Here is an AFM image of Gyrase bound to a 339 base pair DNA minicircle and possibly the beginning of a wrap, as evidenced by the conformational changes proximal to the bound enzyme. _________ #dna #afm #atomicforcemicroscopy #nanoscience #enzyme #gyrase #twist #wrap #image #science #research #antimicrobrial #amr #bacterial #scienceblogger #dnaphotographers #topoisomerases #ucl
Gyrase/DNA Gyrase is a type II bacterial topoisomerase that has the unique ability to induce negative supercoiling in DNA through a 'wrapping' mechanism. Here is an AFM image of Gyrase bound to a 339 base pair DNA minicircle and possibly the beginning of a wrap, as evidenced by the conformational changes proximal to the bound enzyme. _________ #dna #afm #atomicforcemicroscopy #nanoscience #enzyme #gyrase #twist #wrap #image #science #research #antimicrobrial #amr #bacterial #scienceblogger #dnaphotographers #topoisomerases #ucl
We attended the Physics of Life PoLNET2 Symposium held at the University of York on the 10th December where we presented some of our current work on supercoiled DNA-topoisomerase interactions. Here is a snippet of our research poster. _______________ #physicsoflife2018 #research #symposium #biology #physics #biophysics #poster #dna #afm #topoisomerases #universityofyork #ucl #science #collaboration #nanotechnology
We attended the Physics of Life PoLNET2 Symposium held at the University of York on the 10th December where we presented some of our current work on supercoiled DNA-topoisomerase interactions. Here is a snippet of our research poster. _______________ #physicsoflife2018 #research #symposium #biology #physics #biophysics #poster #dna #afm #topoisomerases #universityofyork #ucl #science #collaboration #nanotechnology
Some non-DNA work. Dividing E.coli bacteria imaged by AFM. _______ #AFM #image #microscopy #bacteria #ecoli #divising #biology #science #stem #life #research Visit our website for the latest updates about our group and research! https://www.alicepyne.com __________ #research #researchgroup #website #dna #afm #biophysics #biomolecules #ucl #lcn Gyrase/DNA Gyrase is a type II bacterial topoisomerase that has the unique ability to induce negative supercoiling in DNA through a 'wrapping' mechanism. Here is an AFM image of Gyrase bound to a 339 base pair DNA minicircle and possibly the beginning of a wrap, as evidenced by the conformational changes proximal to the bound enzyme. _________ #dna #afm #atomicforcemicroscopy #nanoscience #enzyme #gyrase #twist #wrap #image #science #research #antimicrobrial #amr #bacterial #scienceblogger #dnaphotographers #topoisomerases #ucl We attended the Physics of Life PoLNET2 Symposium held at the University of York on the 10th December where we presented some of our current work on supercoiled DNA-topoisomerase interactions. Here is a snippet of our research poster. _______________ #physicsoflife2018 #research #symposium #biology #physics #biophysics #poster #dna #afm #topoisomerases #universityofyork #ucl #science #collaboration #nanotechnology