"Unveiling Membrane Proteins at the Nanoscale: Mass Spectrometry from Recombinant Complexes to Brain Regions”
Professor Dame Carol Robinson DBE FRS FMedSci FRSC
Dr. Lee's Professor of Chemistry
Director of the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery
University of Oxford
In 2008, a groundbreaking milestone was achieved when scientists captured the first mass spectra of intact membrane protein complexes, detached from their native detergent micelles, directly in the gas phase. This achievement opened a new frontier in nanoscience, allowing detailed investigation of the molecular architecture and dynamics of these elusive, membrane-embedded entities.
Harnessing advanced mass spectrometry techniques, researchers can now probe the structural integrity, lipid interactions, and functional states of complex membrane proteins such as rotary ATPases, G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), ABC transporters, ion channels, and solute carriers—all at the nanoscale. These insights are crucial for understanding how lipids and drugs modulate transport, coupling mechanisms, and signal transduction within the membrane environment.
The implications are profound for drug discovery: mass spectrometry enables high-resolution ligand screening for GPCRs, ion channels, and transporters directly from native membranes. Recent innovations push this approach further, allowing the extraction and analysis of membrane proteins directly from tissues—such as specific brain regions implicated in psychiatric disorders—providing a window into the molecular underpinnings of neurobiology at the nanoscale.
I will highlight recent case studies demonstrating how this nanoscale perspective is transforming our understanding of membrane protein function and paving the way for targeted therapeutics.
Carol Robinson holds the University Chair of Dr. Lee’s Professor of Chemistry and is the first Director of the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery at Oxford. She is recognised for establishing mass spectrometry as a viable technology to study the structure, function and interactions of proteins and their complexes. Her collaborations span both academic and industrial laboratories and in 2016, her spin-out company, OMass Technologies, was founded. Now trading as OMass Therapeutics the company uses high definition native mass spectrometry to develop drug therapies for use in immunologic and genetic disorders. Carol graduated from the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1979 and completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge. She took a career break of eight years to bring up her children and later became the first female Professor of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge (2001-2009). She has held the Dr. Lee’s Chair in Chemistry since 2009 and is Oxford’s first female Professor of Chemistry. Her research has attracted numerous international awards and distinctions. Her most recent awards are: The 2022 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry, The 2022 Louis Jeantet Prize for Medicine, The European Chemistry Gold Medal from the European Chemistry Society (EuChemS), The Othmer Gold Medal from the Science History Institute, The Academy Prize from the Royal Academy of Belgium and The Royal Medal A from the Royal Society. Her distinctions include International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2021), Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences (2017), Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2013 for her contributions to Science and Industry; she is also a former President of the UK Royal Society of Chemistry.