SC9: GPCR STRUCTURES AND ENABLING BIOPHYSICAL TOOLS

MONDAY, AUGUST 24 | 6:00 - 9:00 PM (DINNER PROVIDED)

In this short-course we will review recently elucidated, by both X-ray crystallography and Cryo-EM technology, high-resolution G Protein-Coupled Receptor (GPCR) structures that are informing our current understanding of GPCR function. Examples of how GPCR structural information is being applied to guide rational approaches for GPCR drug discovery will also be provided. We will also discuss how this structural information is complemented by various biophysical techniques that provide information on GPCR dynamics and function.

Topics to be Covered:

• Structurally characterizing GPCRs (X-ray crystallography, cryoEM, NMR)
• Review of GPCR structures and their implications for drug discovery
• Biophysical tools for membrane proteins (NMR, fluorescence spectroscopy, EPR, and SPR)

Instructor:

Matthew Eddy, PhD, Assistant Professor, Chemistry, University of Florida

Dr. Matthew Eddy is a physical chemist who specializes in the investigation of the structure and conformational dynamics of membrane proteins, including G Protein-Coupled Receptors, using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Dr. Eddy received his PhD from the the laboratory of Professor Robert Griffin at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During his PhD, Eddy developed new methodologies for using NMR in the solid state to determine structures of membrane proteins in cellular-like environments. Following his PhD, Dr. Eddy joined the laboratories of Professors Raymond Stevens and Kurt Wüthrich at The Scripps Research Institute and University of Southern California as an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow, applying an integrative structural biology approach to study human G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and focusing on applications of NMR to understand GPCR allosteric functions. Dr. Eddy has authored or coauthored over 25 peer-reviewed publications in high-profile scientific journals including Cell, JACS, and Structure. Dr. Eddy recently started his own laboratory at the University of Florida, developing new approaches to investigate GPCR structure-function relationships directly in cellular environments.

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