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Office: CAP 2.54 E-mail: n.le-brun@uea.ac.uk Tel/fax: +44 (0)1603 592699 / +44 (0)1603 592003 School Positions: Professor of Biological Chemistry, Director of Graduate Studies, Postgraduate Adviser, Member of CHE Teaching Executive, Member of the CHE Promotions Committee, Director, UEA Centre for Molecular and Structural Biochemistry. |
Nick Le Brun graduated in 1990 with a first class degree in Chemistry from UEA. Supported through a Wellcome Trust Prize Studentship, he remained at UEA to begin his research career in the area of bioinorganic chemistry under the guidance of Prof Andrew Thomson, FRS OBE and Prof Geoff Moore. He gained his PhD in 1993, and continued his research in the School through a Wellcome Trust Fellowship. In 1996, he moved to the Department of Microbiology, Lund University, Sweden to take up an EMBO Fellowship, in the laboratory of Prof Lars Hederstedt. In 1999 Nick returned to UEA, as a Lecturer in biological chemistry and subsequently as a Senior Lecturer (2006-2009), Reader (2009-2011), and Professor (2011 - ).
Proteins that contain metal ions (metalloproteins) constitute a diverse and hugely important group. By utilising and fine-tuning the wide range of physical and chemical properties exhibited by metal ions, they fulfil many essential roles in many cellular processes. Nick's research interests lie in understanding how bacterial cells handle essential metal ions, the pathways by which metal-containing proteins are assembled, and the reactivities associated with metalloproteins. A particular focus of this work has been the mechanisms by which global transcriptional regulators that contain an iron-sulfur cluster ‘sense’ their particular analyte (eg dioxygen or nitric oxide). He is also interested in thioredoxin-like proteins involved disulfide bond management in bacteria.
Specifically, his interest is focused in four areas:
- Proteins involved in iron storage
- Copper trafficking proteins;
- Regulatory proteins that contain iron-sulfur clusters;
- Disulfide bond management on the outside of the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane.
Nick’s research is funded by BBSRC, The Wellcome Trust and EPRSC. He was a member of the BBSRC Pool of Experts (2009-2010) and now serves as a core member (2010-) of BBSRC Committee D: Molecules, Cells and Industrial biotechnology. In January 2010, Nick was appointed Director of the UEA Centre for Molecular and Structural Biochemistry.
Selected Publications
Reversible cycling between partially cysteine persulfide-ligated [2Fe-2S] clusters and cysteine ligated [4Fe-4S] clusters in FNR
B. Zhang, J. C. Crack, S. Subramanian, J. Green, A. J. Thomson, N. E. Le Brun, M. K. Johnson
Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, 2012 109, 15734-15739.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1208787109
Iron-sulfur sensor-regulators
J. C. Crack, J. Green, A. J. Thomson, N. E. Le Brun
Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol., 2012, 16, 35-44.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2012.02.009
Mechanistic insight into the nitrosylation of the [4Fe-4S] cluster of WhiB-like proteins
J. C. Crack, L. J. Smith, M. R. Stapleton, J., Peck, N. J. Watmough, M. J. Buttner, R. S. Buxton, J. Green, V. S. Oganesyan, A. J. Thomson, N. E. Le Brun
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2011, 133, 1112-1121.
DOI: 10.1021/ja109581t
Heme-responsive DNA binding by the global iron regulator Irr from Rhizobium leguminosarum
C. Singleton, G. F. White, J. D. Todd, S. J. Marritt, M. R. Cheesman, A. W. B. Johnston, N. E. Le Brun
J. Biol. Chem., 2010, 285, 16023-16031
DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M109.067215
Optimizing the sensitivity to O2 of the transcription factor FNR: Ser24 modulates the kinetics of the [4Fe-4S] to [2Fe-2S] conversion
A. J. Jervis, J. C. Crack, G. White, P. J. Artymiuk, M. R. Cheesman, A. J. Thomson, N. E. Le Brun, J. Green
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2009, 106, 4659-4664.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0804943106
Crystal structure and biophysical properties of Bacillus subtilis BdbD: An oxidizing thiol:disulfide oxidoreductase containing a novel metal site
A. Crow, A. Lewin, O. Hecht, M. Carlsson Möller, G. R. Moore, L. Hederstedt and N. E. Le Brun
J. Biol. Chem., 2009, 284, 23719-23733 (open access)
The structural basis for iron mineralization by bacterioferritin
A. Crow, T. L. Lawson, A. Lewin, G. R. Moore and N. E. Le Brun
J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2009, 131, 6808-6813
Influence of the environment on the [4Fe-4S]2+ to [2Fe-2S]2+ cluster switch in the transcriptional regulator FNR
J.C. Crack, A.A. Gaskell, J. Green, M.R. Cheesman, N.E. Le Brun, A. J. Thomson
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008 130, 1749 – 1758.
DOI: 10.1021/ja077455+
