Welcome
to the Mason Laboratory
Contact
details:
Jody M.
Mason
Professor of
Biochemistry
University
of Bath
Department
of Biology & Biochemistry
Bath, BA2
7AY,
United
Kingdom
Email: j.mason@bath.ac.uk
Click here for group
information
Click here
for InsiliCoil - A software
platform designed to accelerate coiled coil research by providing
high-throughput, user-friendly screening technologies for CC inhibitor design
and bioengineering.
Click here for our other
Protein-protein interaction tools.
Click here for information on Cascade: an Alzheimers disease awareness
game.
My research group focuses on the screening, design,
synthesis and characterisation of peptide-based antagonists that can inhibit
disease-relevant targets with high affinity and specificity. These do so by
inhibiting the protein-protein interactions (PPIs) that targets require for
function.
While forces driving stability are now well understood,
much less is known about specificity. Towards these goals we undertake peptide
library screening within the complex environment of the cell. This includes Protein-fragment
Complementation Assay (PCA), and Transcription Block Survival (TBS)
screening platforms. Both utilise semi-rational library design to select
peptide antagonists that can engage with a protein target and ablate function.
We have further devised a Competitive and Negative Design Initiative
(CANDI) technique to increase target-specificity in the PCA system by
expressing potential off-targets or first generation hit sequences during the
selection process.
Library derived peptides and their characterisation have
allowed us to create a number of tools towards
prediction of PPI stability and specificity based on primary sequence alone,
and to consequently design inhibitory peptides as well as in silico libraries.
Our screening approaches have been applied to a broad
range of therapeutically relevant systems that include signalling proteins,
transcription factors, and amyloidogenic proteins such as β-amyloid and
α-synuclein that are implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimers
and Parkinsons diseases, respectively.
The research group use a range of multidisciplinary
approaches that include molecular biology, chemical biology, and molecular
biophysics. Our research has been funded by BBSRC, MRC, EPSRC, CRUK, The Wellcome Trust, Royal Society, Alzheimer's Society,
Parkinson's UK and Alzheimer's Research UK.
Editorial
Board Memberships:
-PLOS ONE
-Future Medicinal Chemistry
Committee
Membership:
-Alzheimers Research UK Grant
Review Board (2017-22).
-BBSRC Core Member for Panel D (2019-2023).
-EPSRC Peer Review College (2016-22).
-Member of the Alzheimers
Research UK Network
-Member of BRACE: The Bristol and Bath Alzheimers charity
Recent Major Funding:
-01/2026.
ARUK Pilot Project Grant
-08/2025.
ARUK Major Project Grant
-07/2024.
IUK Transforming Cancer Therapeutics Grant
-07/2024.
EPSRC Accelerating the Medicines Revolution Project Grant
-12/2023.
BBSRC Project Grant
-01/2023.
MRC World Class Labs Award.
-12/2020.
MRC Project Grant
-12/2018.
CRUK Pioneer Award
-10/2018.
BBSRC Project Grant
-10/2018.
Alzheimers Research UK Major Project Grant
-10/2018.
Alzheimers Society PhD Studentship
-01/2017.
BRACE PhD Studentship
-01/2016.
Biochemical Society Scientific Outreach Grant
-09/2014.
EPSRC Overseas Travel Grant
-10/2012.
BBSRC Industrial CASE Studentship (with Isogenica)
-06/2012.
Wellcome Trust People Award (With Fayju)
-08/2011
Eppendorf Young Investigator Award (Runner up)
-06/2011.
Royal Society Research Grant (with N Kad)
-10/2010.
Parkinsons UK PhD Studentship (with N Kad)
-09/2010.
Cancer Research UK Career Establishment Award
-05/2010.
Wellcome Trust Project Grant
-01/2010.
Research into Ageing New Investigator Award
-09/2008.
Alzheimers Research Trust Pilot Project
-03/2008.
Royal Society Research Grant
-11/2007.
Royal Society Conference Grant
Information
for Applicants:
We support applications for external or personal postdoctoral
fellowships (e.g. EMBO, HFSP, Marie Curie or government funded) as well as
applications from students who would like to undertake a PhD. Please contact Jody Mason for informal discussions.