Derek J Wilson
derekjwilson.bsky.social
Derek J Wilson
@derekjwilson.bsky.social
Professor: Mass spectrometry, protein dynamics, (millisecond) hydrogen deuterium exchange, conformational disorder... and more! All at York University in Toronto, Canada.
Ok folks, here it is: Joe Anacleto (with some help from his friends) demonstrates zero sensitivity loss, zero scrambling site specific HDX. Next up: Site specific HDX-MS profiles of drug candidates in *real-world* drug development... And after that? High throughput!

pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Efficient, Zero Scrambling Fragmentation of Deuterium Labeled Peptides on the ZenoToF 7600 Electron Activated Dissociation Platform
Hydrogen–deuterium exchange (HDX) mass spectrometry (MS) has become an increasingly important tool in protein research, with large-scale applications in biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing...
pubs.acs.org
April 24, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Alright it's been a while, I know, but just in case you were *really* curious about what ms Hydrogen Deuterium Exchange can tell you about cytochrome c membrane interactions, I present to you this work by Vimanda Chow: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Probing the Interactions of Cytochrome c with Anionic Phospholipid Nanodiscs Using Millisecond Hydrogen–Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry
The interplay between the anionic phospholipid cardiolipin (CL) and cytochrome c (cyt c) holds significance in the early stages of apoptosis. Despite identification of up to four potential sites of in...
pubs.acs.org
April 2, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by Derek J Wilson
Excited to be giving this webinar soon. Hope to see you then!
March 14, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Rare political repost from me, but this one deserves it for so eloquently exhibiting the moral power of being *moderate*.
With his permission, I'm sharing Dean Treanor's response to Ed Martin's letter:
March 6, 2025 at 11:23 PM
The Wilson group and collaborators bids you all a Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays!
December 14, 2024 at 12:48 PM
yESI is on his way to his new home in Ontario. He will no doubt find some comfort in the arms of a 13 year old boy who still loves stuffies, but I think he will be deeply disappointed by the lack of mountains... As everyone knows, Ontario is NOT the natural habitat for any species of YETI.
December 8, 2024 at 11:15 PM
Quick #videogames thought: It seems to me that the current situation on Google's "Play Store" is rather like the situation of #Atari in the mid 1980's. Here's hoping it causes the same sort of crash, and maybe then some marketplace competition.
December 8, 2024 at 9:15 PM
Time to once again close out the scientific program of the Lake Louise conference on mass spectrometry. To do that, Gary Glish is telling us why what we have all been observing can depend really quite a lot on the particular settings of our instruments. #LakeLouise2024
December 7, 2024 at 7:01 PM
I think some might appreciate this spectacular view of the majestic and timeless scenery at the Lake Louise mass spectrometry conference. #LakeLouise2024
December 6, 2024 at 1:54 PM
Just got a 'request to review' where the editor sent me a *table* of papers they can't find reviewers for and asked me to please select one or two that I'd be willing to do. For these (hours) of work they offer 100 points that can be used to purchase services from the publisher. #peerreviewcrisis
December 2, 2024 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by Derek J Wilson
Hydrogen–Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry Reveals Mechanistic Insights into RNA Oligonucleotide-Mediated Inhibition of TDP-43 Aggregation #JACS pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Hydrogen–Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry Reveals Mechanistic Insights into RNA Oligonucleotide-Mediated Inhibition of TDP-43 Aggregation
Deposits of aggregated TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43) in the brain are associated with several neurodegenerative diseases. It is well established that binding of RNA/DNA to TDP-43 can prevent TDP-43 aggregation, but an understanding of the structure(s) and conformational dynamics of TDP-43, and TDP-43-RNA complexes, is lacking, including knowledge of how the solution environment modulates these properties. Here, we address this challenge using hydrogen–deuterium exchange-mass spectrometry. In the presence of RNA olignoucleotides, we observe protection from exchange in the RNA recognition motif (RRM) domains of TDP-43 and the linker region between the RRM domains, consistent with nucleic acid binding modulating interdomain interactions. Intriguingly, at elevated salt concentrations, the extent of protection from exchange is reduced in the RRM domains when bound to an RNA sequence derived from the 3′ UTR of the TDP-43 mRNA (CLIP34NT) compared to when bound to a (UG)6 repeat sequence. Under these conditions, CLIP34NT is no longer able to prevent TDP-43 aggregation. This suggests that a salt-induced structural rearrangement occurs when bound to this RNA, which may play a role in facilitating aggregation. Additionally, upon RNA binding, we identify differences in exchange within the short α-helical region located in the C-terminal domain (CTD) of TDP-43. These allosterically altered regions may influence the ability of TDP-43 to aggregate and fine-tune its RNA binding repertoire. Combined, these data provide additional insights into the intricate interplay between TDP-43 aggregation and RNA binding, an understanding of which is crucial for unraveling the molecular mechanisms underlying TDP-43-associated neurodegeneration.
pubs.acs.org
November 29, 2024 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by Derek J Wilson
Wow. We just got hit full in the face with the #peerreviewcrisis currently facing science publishing. Our manuscript was rejected from a major journal (with invitation to resubmit) on the basis of a single, objectively terrible review that used the word 'sketchy'... Twice! Who's got solutions??
November 29, 2024 at 4:21 PM
Things are not looking so great for universities in Ontario. Waterloo is one of our best, with a particular strength in translational research and spinoffs... But my guess is that under Ford, Ontario will remain the lowest percent funder of it's universities.
www.therecord.com/news/waterlo...
U of Waterloo dealing with $75-million deficit
The University of Waterloo has implemented a hiring freeze for staff and faculty as it contends with a $75 million deficit for the 2024-25 school year.
www.therecord.com
November 23, 2024 at 6:06 PM
To me, this has always seemed an example of taking something flawed and replacing it with something more flawed. No matter how you dress it up, eLife's approach simply replaces an editor/reviewer gatekeeper with an editor gatekeeper... All while denying the need for gatekeepers.
Following the news that eLife will not receive an Impact Factor in 2025, we’ve shared an update on how our model is doing since we were first placed “on hold” by Web of Science, and what we’re up to now. Find out more.
https://buff.ly/3ATRAFT
The eLife Model: An update on progress following changes in Web of Science indexing status
Following the decision that eLife will not receive an Impact Factor in 2025, we share an update on how our model is doing since we were first placed “on hold” by Web of Science, and what we’re up to…
buff.ly
November 21, 2024 at 1:50 PM
Alrightee, time to test out posting on BlueSky: Here's a recent paper from my group led by PhD extraordinaire Esther Wolf (now postdoc extraordinaire at the SGC) wherein we show that you can use hydrogen deuterium exchange to measure Kd for libraries of drug candidates.
pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1...
Quantitative Hydrogen–Deuterium Exchange Mass Spectrometry for Simultaneous Structural Characterization and Affinity Indexing of Single Target Drug Candidate Libraries
Hydrogen–deuterium eXchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) is increasingly used in drug development to locate binding sites and to identify allosteric effects in drug/target interactions. However, the pot...
pubs.acs.org
November 20, 2024 at 11:47 PM