Prof Claire Eyers BSc, PhD, FRSC
Professor of Biological Mass Spectrometry Biochemistry & Systems Biology
- +44 (0)151 795 4424
- Work email Claire.Eyers@liverpool.ac.uk
- Personal Websitehttp://www.liv.ac.uk/pfg/
Research
Development and application of mass spectrometry-based strategies to understand protein modification in health and disease
The major theme of my research career has been the development and application of biochemical and biophysical (mass spectrometry, ion mobility) techniques to study cellular signal transduction and post-translational modifications (PTMs), particularly protein phosphorylation, on a global level. Identification of PTMs ultimately leads to better understanding, and thus the ability to model, cell signalling systems. This is particularly pertinent as we try to define how changes in protein modification and cell signalling drives cellular ageing and the onset/progression of diseases. My research interests include the application of MS-based techniques to understand proteins and their modifications in a quantitative manner, both at the peptide and protein level, particularly to better understand the roles of combinatorial protein modifications. We also apply structural mass spectrometry (native IM-MS) to correlate changes in site-specific protein modification with protein conformational dynamics, complex formation and ligand (small molecule, DNA) binding.
I am currently funded by CRUK, NWCR, BBSRC and Unilever, and have been involved in a number of large-scale cross-disciplinary BBSRC (LOLA, SABR) and EU-funded projects, including:
i) absolute quantification of the complete proteome of S. cerevisiae (i.e. defining protein copy number per cell), and assessment of changes in protein cohorts under conditions of stress;
ii) in-depth characterisation of stimulation-dependent changes in the modification status of the NFκB transcription factor p65 in a temporal manner. By applying standard peptide-based quantitative phopshoproteomics, native structural mass spectrometry and novel strategies for intact protein (top down) proteomics that are currently being developed in my group, we are investigate the combinatorial roles of multiple modifications on individual NF-kB proteins as a function of disease (cancer) status and in response to stress stimuli;
iii) screening for cancer-associated changes in the serum glycome by developing novel MS-based methodology for capture and analysis of glycans, glycosylated proteins and glycan binding proteins using self-assembled monolayers;
iv) expanding the landscape of protein phosphorylation in human cells, having developed analytical strategies that allow sites of phosphorylation on non typical amino acids residues (e.g. His, Asp, Glu, Lys, Arg) to be defined.
Research Group Membership
Research Grants
PhosphoX-db: A web-based bioinformatics platform for studying non-canonical phosphorylation
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL (BBSRC)
September 2018 - June 2020
Non-canonical protein phosphorylation in human cancer cells
NORTH WEST CANCER RESEARCH INCORPORATING CLATTERBRIDGE CANCER RESEARCH (UK)
June 2018 - January 2022
Unilever Case Award for Maximilian Harris
UNILEVER PLC (UK)
October 2017 - October 2021
Analysis of Mucin Interactions
UNILEVER PLC (UK)
October 2017 - December 2017
Understanding the complexity of post-translation modifications by enhancing UK capability for top-down proteomics
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL (BBSRC), KEELE UNIVERSITY (UK), UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS (UK)
June 2017 - June 2018
NF-κB regulated signalling pathways that control tumourigenesis and the response to cancer therapy
CANCER RESEARCH UK (CRUK) (UK)
July 2016 - June 2021
Therapeutic relevance of crosstalk in the Aurora A and PLK4 signalling modules
NORTH WEST CANCER RESEARCH INCORPORATING CLATTERBRIDGE CANCER RESEARCH (UK)
October 2017 - September 2020
Assay Development Platforms
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL (BBSRC)
February 2015 - November 2016
The PPP-labels software for quantitative proteomics
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL (BBSRC)
September 2014 - September 2015
Dynamics and function of the NF-kappaB signalling system
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL (BBSRC)
May 2013 - April 2014
Systems biology analysis of biological timers and inflammation
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL (BBSRC)
May 2013 - April 2018
A critical evaluation of the top 3 method for proteome-wide label-free quantification
BRITISH MASS SPECTROMETRY SOCIETY (UK)
December 2013 - May 2014
Global quantification of the yeast proteome
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL (BBSRC)
May 2013 - December 2014
Application of advanced MS instrumentation to protein ligand binding and PTM characterisation
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL (BBSRC)
January 2015 - January 2016
Mass spectrometry imaging for biology and biotechnology
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL (BBSRC)
January 2014 - December 2014
GlycoBioM
UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER (UK)
August 2014 - February 2015
DNA damage induced phosphorylation and regulation of NF-kappaB
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL (BBSRC)
April 2014 - September 2017
ProteoFormer – a software toolkit for top-down proteomics
BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL (BBSRC)
July 2014 - November 2015