Alexander Taylor
@alextaylor314.bsky.social
Postdoc at the Astbury Centre, Leeds, UK | Biophysics and chemical biology | Protein folding, intrinsic disorder, self-assembly, amyloid.
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
Leeds researchers have secured two major Wellcome Trust Discovery Awards.
The awards bring £3.4 million to support research exploring life at the molecular level and to deepen our understanding of disease.
🔗Full story: bit.ly/4oW3D99
@astburycentre.bsky.social @universityofleeds.bsky.social
The awards bring £3.4 million to support research exploring life at the molecular level and to deepen our understanding of disease.
🔗Full story: bit.ly/4oW3D99
@astburycentre.bsky.social @universityofleeds.bsky.social
Two more Wellcome Discovery Awards reinforce Leeds as leader in biological research
Some of Leeds’ top biological researchers have received two new Wellcome Discovery Awards, confirming the university’s status as a centre of excellence in biological research.
bit.ly
November 6, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Leeds researchers have secured two major Wellcome Trust Discovery Awards.
The awards bring £3.4 million to support research exploring life at the molecular level and to deepen our understanding of disease.
🔗Full story: bit.ly/4oW3D99
@astburycentre.bsky.social @universityofleeds.bsky.social
The awards bring £3.4 million to support research exploring life at the molecular level and to deepen our understanding of disease.
🔗Full story: bit.ly/4oW3D99
@astburycentre.bsky.social @universityofleeds.bsky.social
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
Our work developing a maximum entropy reweighting method to refine all-atom ensembles of IDPs with extensive NMR and SAXS datasets is now out in @natcomms.nature.com:
rdcu.be/eKlK7
Led by @dartmouthchem.bsky.social graduate student Kaushilk Borthakur in collaboration with @bonomimax.bsky.social
rdcu.be/eKlK7
Led by @dartmouthchem.bsky.social graduate student Kaushilk Borthakur in collaboration with @bonomimax.bsky.social
Determining accurate conformational ensembles of intrinsically disordered proteins at atomic resolution
Nature Communications - This study demonstrates how to combine molecular dynamics computer simulations with experimental biophysical data to determine accurate atomic-resolution ensembles of...
rdcu.be
October 10, 2025 at 3:33 PM
Our work developing a maximum entropy reweighting method to refine all-atom ensembles of IDPs with extensive NMR and SAXS datasets is now out in @natcomms.nature.com:
rdcu.be/eKlK7
Led by @dartmouthchem.bsky.social graduate student Kaushilk Borthakur in collaboration with @bonomimax.bsky.social
rdcu.be/eKlK7
Led by @dartmouthchem.bsky.social graduate student Kaushilk Borthakur in collaboration with @bonomimax.bsky.social
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
The obsession with economic output as a measure of human development puts sustainability on the back burner
go.nature.com/4pNC96G
go.nature.com/4pNC96G
End GDP mania: how the world should really measure prosperity
The obsession with economic output as a measure of human development puts sustainability on the back burner. Researchers can now help to devise better indicators.
go.nature.com
October 1, 2025 at 4:48 PM
The obsession with economic output as a measure of human development puts sustainability on the back burner
go.nature.com/4pNC96G
go.nature.com/4pNC96G
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
Excited to share a new preprint:
"Monomer binding modes of small molecules that modulate the kinetics of hIAPP amyloid formation"
by graduate student Michelle Garcia together with post-doc Korey Reid.
Paper:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Code + Ensembles: github.com/paulrobustel...
"Monomer binding modes of small molecules that modulate the kinetics of hIAPP amyloid formation"
by graduate student Michelle Garcia together with post-doc Korey Reid.
Paper:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Code + Ensembles: github.com/paulrobustel...
September 27, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Excited to share a new preprint:
"Monomer binding modes of small molecules that modulate the kinetics of hIAPP amyloid formation"
by graduate student Michelle Garcia together with post-doc Korey Reid.
Paper:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Code + Ensembles: github.com/paulrobustel...
"Monomer binding modes of small molecules that modulate the kinetics of hIAPP amyloid formation"
by graduate student Michelle Garcia together with post-doc Korey Reid.
Paper:
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Code + Ensembles: github.com/paulrobustel...
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
A one-time gene therapy can markedly slow the progression of Huntington’s disease, potentially paving the way for the first ever treatment to alter the course of this rare, inherited brain disorder.
go.nature.com/4nu6YMs
go.nature.com/4nu6YMs
Huntington’s disease treated for first time using gene therapy
Preliminary results from a small trial offer the clearest evidence yet that the brain disease’s progression can be slowed.
go.nature.com
September 25, 2025 at 3:54 PM
A one-time gene therapy can markedly slow the progression of Huntington’s disease, potentially paving the way for the first ever treatment to alter the course of this rare, inherited brain disorder.
go.nature.com/4nu6YMs
go.nature.com/4nu6YMs
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
🚨 Excited to share our paper in JACS!
📈 We show that Zn²⁺ ions modulate the conformational ensemble of N-acetylated α-synuclein which directly influences its amyloidogenic behaviour.
🧩 Our approach combines ion mobility mass spec with ThT fluorescence, NMR and MD.
👉🏼 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
📈 We show that Zn²⁺ ions modulate the conformational ensemble of N-acetylated α-synuclein which directly influences its amyloidogenic behaviour.
🧩 Our approach combines ion mobility mass spec with ThT fluorescence, NMR and MD.
👉🏼 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Zn2+ Binding Shifts the Conformational Ensemble of α-Synuclein Monomers toward Accelerated Amyloid Formation
Alpha-synuclein (αS) is an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) that can self-assemble into amyloid fibrils, undergoing a transition from disordered monomers to ordered β-sheet-rich fibrils. The amy...
pubs.acs.org
September 25, 2025 at 5:19 PM
🚨 Excited to share our paper in JACS!
📈 We show that Zn²⁺ ions modulate the conformational ensemble of N-acetylated α-synuclein which directly influences its amyloidogenic behaviour.
🧩 Our approach combines ion mobility mass spec with ThT fluorescence, NMR and MD.
👉🏼 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
📈 We show that Zn²⁺ ions modulate the conformational ensemble of N-acetylated α-synuclein which directly influences its amyloidogenic behaviour.
🧩 Our approach combines ion mobility mass spec with ThT fluorescence, NMR and MD.
👉🏼 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
September 21 is #WorldAlzheimersDay
Alzheimer's disease and prion diseases are linked to unnatural aggregation of proteins into amyloid fibrils.
Alzheimer's disease and prion diseases are linked to unnatural aggregation of proteins into amyloid fibrils.
PDB101: Molecule of the Month: Amyloids
Alzheimer's disease and prion diseases are linked to unnatural aggregation of proteins into amyloid fibrils.
pdb101.rcsb.org
September 19, 2025 at 4:12 PM
September 21 is #WorldAlzheimersDay
Alzheimer's disease and prion diseases are linked to unnatural aggregation of proteins into amyloid fibrils.
Alzheimer's disease and prion diseases are linked to unnatural aggregation of proteins into amyloid fibrils.
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
Our review on CPEB and memory published today- thanks to all authors. Enjoy the read
September 8, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Our review on CPEB and memory published today- thanks to all authors. Enjoy the read
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
Tau’s microtubule-binding repeat regions interact with amyloid-β (Aβ) to form hetero-assemblies, which can modify Aβ amyloidogenesis and alleviate Aβ-induced cytotoxicity
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Interactions with tau’s microtubule-binding repeats modulate amyloid-β aggregation and toxicity - Nature Chemical Biology
The interplay between tau and amyloid-β (Aβ) in the development of Alzheimer’s disease is not fully understood. It has now been shown that tau’s microtubule-binding repeat regions, which contain a com...
www.nature.com
August 26, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Tau’s microtubule-binding repeat regions interact with amyloid-β (Aβ) to form hetero-assemblies, which can modify Aβ amyloidogenesis and alleviate Aβ-induced cytotoxicity
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
Interested in amyloid polymorphs? Our latest paper with PhD student Jack Connor is just out. Have a read and do try out his analysis on your favourite amyloid structures! doi.org/10.1016/j.st...
July 29, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Interested in amyloid polymorphs? Our latest paper with PhD student Jack Connor is just out. Have a read and do try out his analysis on your favourite amyloid structures! doi.org/10.1016/j.st...
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
Our development of machine-learned transferable coarse-grained models in now on Nat Chem! doi.org/10.1038/s415...
I am so proud of my group for this work! Particularly first authors Nick Charron, Klara Bonneau, Aldo Pasos-Trejo, Andrea Guljas.
I am so proud of my group for this work! Particularly first authors Nick Charron, Klara Bonneau, Aldo Pasos-Trejo, Andrea Guljas.
Navigating protein landscapes with a machine-learned transferable coarse-grained model - Nature Chemistry
The development of a universal protein coarse-grained model has been a long-standing challenge. A coarse-grained model with chemical transferability has now been developed by combining deep-learning m...
doi.org
July 18, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Our development of machine-learned transferable coarse-grained models in now on Nat Chem! doi.org/10.1038/s415...
I am so proud of my group for this work! Particularly first authors Nick Charron, Klara Bonneau, Aldo Pasos-Trejo, Andrea Guljas.
I am so proud of my group for this work! Particularly first authors Nick Charron, Klara Bonneau, Aldo Pasos-Trejo, Andrea Guljas.
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
Huge congratulations to @alinaemelianova.bsky.social Pablo and Daniel on their paper on small-molecule partitioning into condensates now published in JACS Au and selected as ACS Editor’s Choice!!! pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....
Prediction of Small-Molecule Partitioning into Biomolecular Condensates from Simulation
Predicting small-molecule partitioning into biomolecular condensates is the key to developing drugs that selectively target aberrant condensates. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying small-mol...
pubs.acs.org
July 3, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Huge congratulations to @alinaemelianova.bsky.social Pablo and Daniel on their paper on small-molecule partitioning into condensates now published in JACS Au and selected as ACS Editor’s Choice!!! pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
A new paper from the Institute for Protein Design at UW presents RFpeptides, an extension of RoseTTAFold2 and RFdiffusion for de novo design of macrocyclic peptide binders
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Accurate de novo design of high-affinity protein-binding macrocycles using deep learning - Nature Chemical Biology
A method for de novo design of peptide macrocyles called RFpeptides has been developed. RFpeptides is an extension of RoseTTAFold2 and RFdiffusion and combines structure prediction and protein backbon...
www.nature.com
June 23, 2025 at 4:54 PM
A new paper from the Institute for Protein Design at UW presents RFpeptides, an extension of RoseTTAFold2 and RFdiffusion for de novo design of macrocyclic peptide binders
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
Researchers have discovered previously undetected chemical bonds within archived protein structures, revealing an unexpected complexity in protein chemistry.
phys.org/news/2025-0...
phys.org/news/2025-0...
A new complexity in protein chemistry: Algorithm uncovers overlooked chemical linkages
Proteins are among the most studied molecules in biology, yet new research from the University of Göttingen shows they can still hold surprising secrets. Researchers have discovered previously undetected ...
phys.org
June 8, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Researchers have discovered previously undetected chemical bonds within archived protein structures, revealing an unexpected complexity in protein chemistry.
phys.org/news/2025-0...
phys.org/news/2025-0...
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
Looks useful:
CGBack: Diffusion Model for Backmapping Large-
Scale and Complex Coarse-Grained Molecular
Systems
Includes applications to reverse-CG/backmap multi-chain
molecular systems, including densely packed condensates.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
CGBack: Diffusion Model for Backmapping Large-
Scale and Complex Coarse-Grained Molecular
Systems
Includes applications to reverse-CG/backmap multi-chain
molecular systems, including densely packed condensates.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
June 8, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Looks useful:
CGBack: Diffusion Model for Backmapping Large-
Scale and Complex Coarse-Grained Molecular
Systems
Includes applications to reverse-CG/backmap multi-chain
molecular systems, including densely packed condensates.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
CGBack: Diffusion Model for Backmapping Large-
Scale and Complex Coarse-Grained Molecular
Systems
Includes applications to reverse-CG/backmap multi-chain
molecular systems, including densely packed condensates.
doi.org/10.1101/2025...
Flow forces are widespread in both in vitro experiments and aggregation in vivo. Straight onto the reading list!
Our commentary on flow and amyloid formation published today www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2504573122
April 16, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Flow forces are widespread in both in vitro experiments and aggregation in vivo. Straight onto the reading list!
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
Thrilled to share our new paper on the front cover of JACS! 🧪💊🍾
Kinetic inhibitors of the early steps of #amyloid formation can profoundly affect the resulting fibril polymorphism – suggesting a new strategy to treat protein aggregation diseases.
🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
🧵... (1/6)
Kinetic inhibitors of the early steps of #amyloid formation can profoundly affect the resulting fibril polymorphism – suggesting a new strategy to treat protein aggregation diseases.
🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
🧵... (1/6)
April 10, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Thrilled to share our new paper on the front cover of JACS! 🧪💊🍾
Kinetic inhibitors of the early steps of #amyloid formation can profoundly affect the resulting fibril polymorphism – suggesting a new strategy to treat protein aggregation diseases.
🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
🧵... (1/6)
Kinetic inhibitors of the early steps of #amyloid formation can profoundly affect the resulting fibril polymorphism – suggesting a new strategy to treat protein aggregation diseases.
🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
🧵... (1/6)
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
Do you like CALVADOS but are not quite sure how to make it?
We’ve got your back!
@sobuelow.bsky.social & @giuliotesei.bsky.social—together with the rest of the team—describe our software for simulations using the CALVADOS models incl. recipes for several applications. 1/5
doi.org/10.48550/arX...
We’ve got your back!
@sobuelow.bsky.social & @giuliotesei.bsky.social—together with the rest of the team—describe our software for simulations using the CALVADOS models incl. recipes for several applications. 1/5
doi.org/10.48550/arX...
April 15, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Do you like CALVADOS but are not quite sure how to make it?
We’ve got your back!
@sobuelow.bsky.social & @giuliotesei.bsky.social—together with the rest of the team—describe our software for simulations using the CALVADOS models incl. recipes for several applications. 1/5
doi.org/10.48550/arX...
We’ve got your back!
@sobuelow.bsky.social & @giuliotesei.bsky.social—together with the rest of the team—describe our software for simulations using the CALVADOS models incl. recipes for several applications. 1/5
doi.org/10.48550/arX...
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
At last our paper is out at JACS and we made the front cover! Thanks to Phospho animation for the image. See doi.org/10.1021/jacs....
April 10, 2025 at 2:13 PM
At last our paper is out at JACS and we made the front cover! Thanks to Phospho animation for the image. See doi.org/10.1021/jacs....
Thrilled to share our new paper on the front cover of JACS! 🧪💊🍾
Kinetic inhibitors of the early steps of #amyloid formation can profoundly affect the resulting fibril polymorphism – suggesting a new strategy to treat protein aggregation diseases.
🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
🧵... (1/6)
Kinetic inhibitors of the early steps of #amyloid formation can profoundly affect the resulting fibril polymorphism – suggesting a new strategy to treat protein aggregation diseases.
🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
🧵... (1/6)
April 10, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Thrilled to share our new paper on the front cover of JACS! 🧪💊🍾
Kinetic inhibitors of the early steps of #amyloid formation can profoundly affect the resulting fibril polymorphism – suggesting a new strategy to treat protein aggregation diseases.
🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
🧵... (1/6)
Kinetic inhibitors of the early steps of #amyloid formation can profoundly affect the resulting fibril polymorphism – suggesting a new strategy to treat protein aggregation diseases.
🔗 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
🧵... (1/6)
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
High above the Parkinson steps, a pair of Peregrine Falcons are tending to five eggs!
Since 2008, Peregrine Falcons have been nesting intermittently on the Parkinson Tower. During that time, the University has seen fourteen chicks successfully hatch 🐣
Since 2008, Peregrine Falcons have been nesting intermittently on the Parkinson Tower. During that time, the University has seen fourteen chicks successfully hatch 🐣
March 28, 2025 at 12:27 PM
High above the Parkinson steps, a pair of Peregrine Falcons are tending to five eggs!
Since 2008, Peregrine Falcons have been nesting intermittently on the Parkinson Tower. During that time, the University has seen fourteen chicks successfully hatch 🐣
Since 2008, Peregrine Falcons have been nesting intermittently on the Parkinson Tower. During that time, the University has seen fourteen chicks successfully hatch 🐣
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
Biomolecular condensates are fluid blobs that form inside cells. New research finds that they can change the electrochemical gradients at their interfaces, changing their properties, @philipcball.bsky.social reports. #ChemSky
‘Ageing’ cellular blobs could be linked to neurodegenerative diseases
Over time biomolecular condensates' redox activity drops and tangled aggregates linked to conditions like Alzheimer's build-up
www.chemistryworld.com
March 24, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Biomolecular condensates are fluid blobs that form inside cells. New research finds that they can change the electrochemical gradients at their interfaces, changing their properties, @philipcball.bsky.social reports. #ChemSky
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
Oligomerization enables the selective targeting of intrinsically disordered regions by small molecules https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.21.644603v1
March 22, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Oligomerization enables the selective targeting of intrinsically disordered regions by small molecules https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.03.21.644603v1
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
Today marks the first ever #WorldGlaciersDay ❄️
Glaciers are the water towers of the world, supplying freshwater to over half of humanity, but they are at the frontline of the climate crisis.
Find out about the important research and glacier initiatives that Leeds academics are involved with 👇🧊
Glaciers are the water towers of the world, supplying freshwater to over half of humanity, but they are at the frontline of the climate crisis.
Find out about the important research and glacier initiatives that Leeds academics are involved with 👇🧊
March 21, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Today marks the first ever #WorldGlaciersDay ❄️
Glaciers are the water towers of the world, supplying freshwater to over half of humanity, but they are at the frontline of the climate crisis.
Find out about the important research and glacier initiatives that Leeds academics are involved with 👇🧊
Glaciers are the water towers of the world, supplying freshwater to over half of humanity, but they are at the frontline of the climate crisis.
Find out about the important research and glacier initiatives that Leeds academics are involved with 👇🧊
Reposted by Alexander Taylor
CALVADOS now has parameters for phosphorylated amino acids
@asrauh.bsky.social @giuliotesei.bsky.social and Gustav Hedemark used a top-down approach in which we targeted experimental data to derive parameters or phosphorylated serine and threonine doi.org/10.1101/2025...
@asrauh.bsky.social @giuliotesei.bsky.social and Gustav Hedemark used a top-down approach in which we targeted experimental data to derive parameters or phosphorylated serine and threonine doi.org/10.1101/2025...
March 21, 2025 at 6:59 AM
CALVADOS now has parameters for phosphorylated amino acids
@asrauh.bsky.social @giuliotesei.bsky.social and Gustav Hedemark used a top-down approach in which we targeted experimental data to derive parameters or phosphorylated serine and threonine doi.org/10.1101/2025...
@asrauh.bsky.social @giuliotesei.bsky.social and Gustav Hedemark used a top-down approach in which we targeted experimental data to derive parameters or phosphorylated serine and threonine doi.org/10.1101/2025...