Dr Darren Tomlinson
Welcome to the Tomlinson lab at the University of Leeds. Our research group is interested in using a novel molecular recognition tool, called an Affimer, to study protein function. An Affimer (also known as an Adhiron) is a scaffold protein that constrains two randomised loops for molecular recognition. They can be used as alternative reagents to antibodies for applications like diagnostics and used to probe the surface of target proteins to identify key domains involved in protein function. Our laboratory provides a service for screening against many types of molecules but our focus is using the Affimer scaffold to understand protein function at the molecular level.
Recent news
2023 - We had a brilliant time in Austria at the Affinity proteomics conference - well done to Anna, Jack, Brian and Lucy who made it fun.
2023 - Congratulations to Amy for passing her viva in January
2022 - Chuffed to bit for Anna passing her viva with flying colours in November
2021 - really please to finally publish this paper in Nature Communications
2019 - it's been sad to see four PhD student leave but they all passed and are doing great in their new positions - well done guys!
2019 - it's also been a good year for publications with papers accepted in Molecular Biology of the Cell, ACS Sensors, Biotechniques, Org Biomol Chem and Blood.
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MY RESEARCH GROUP
Anna is a PDRA who recently passed her PhD. She is screening against a number of different bacterial targets to develop UTI diagnostics on an EPSRC grant, and uses numerous techniques including phage display, protein expression, molecular biology, and immuno-detection methods.
Thembi is an experienced PDRA funded by the BBSRC to develop Affimers to disrupt protein-protein interactions involved in cardiovascular disease. She has experience in a range of techniques including crystallography, cell based assays, phage display and protein biochemistry.
Paul is an experienced PDRA funded by the University of Leeds as the Head of School PDRA. His research is focussed on developing Affimers for super-resolution microscopy techniques. He has experience in a range of techniques including imaging, cell based assays, molecular biology and protein biochemistry.
Annie is a PhD student and her research has focused on characterising Affimers against NDM1 and developing diagnostics/therapeutics against P. aeruginosa. Annie is using molecular biology, enzyme assays and bacterial assays to study how our reagents alter protein function.
Jack is a PhD student. His research is focused on developing Affimers that bind and inhibit protein interactions associated with Aurora A. Jack is using phage display, protein biochemistry and numerous biochemical and cellular assay in his studies.
Izzie is a PhD student and her research has focused on developing Affimer reagents as replacements to secondary antibodies in a bid to reduce the use of animals in research. Izzie is using molecular biology, and numerous assays to assess the ability of the reagents.
Sitthinon started his PhD in 2020. His research is focused on developing in vivo tools for studying PAK1 function. Sitthinon uses a range of molecular, cellular and structural biology techniques.
Brian started his PhD in 2023. His research is focused on isolated Affimer reagents against against allosteric sites on Aurora A. He is funded by the BBSRC and is using phage display, protein biochemistry, structural biology and cell biology in his studies.
Lucy started her PhD in 2023. Her research is focused on characterising the Affimer reagents that block Ras nanoclustering and developing small molecule inhibitors. She is using a range of techniques including phage display, biochemical assays, and structural biology in her studies.
Christian and Lewis are members of the successful BioScreening Technology Group providing a screening service for developing Affimer reagents. Christian is the manager of the group, while Lewis is a highly skilled and experienced technician that is involved in numerous collaborator grants.
