Nick's research primarily focuses on understanding the Ebolavirus glycoprotein's interactions with widely expressed host cell receptors, known as C-type lectins, that are essential for Ebolavirus entry to host cells. Using surface plasmon resonance (SPR), he aims to determine the affinity and binding kinetics of Ebolavirus glycoprotein to specific C-type lectins implicated in Ebolavirus infection. Furthermore, Nick is using the O-glycan-specific mucinases, StcE and SmE, to selectively digest O-glycans on Ebolavirus glycoprotein. By using liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (LC-MS), he aims to characterise the identity of these O-glycans and integrate this with data retrieved from SPR to understand how these O-glycans confer the strength of interactions with C-type lectins. Understanding interactions of Ebolavirus glycoprotein with host receptors will consequently pave the way for targeted therapeutics that aim to block infection at the point of viral entry into the host.
Nick is a Master's student in the Struwe lab, pursuing the second part of his integrated undergraduate course in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry (MBiochem) at Brasenose College, University of Oxford. Upon completion of the first part of the undergraduate degree in 2024, he is now completing his research project under the supervision of Linlin Zhang, Sean Burnap, and Weston Struwe.
