Joe Marsh Research Group

Computational Protein Biology

Section: Biomedical Genomics

J.Marsh — Dr Joe Marsh - IGMM Chancellor's Fellow

Research in a Nutshell

The ultimate manifestation of biological function often involves the assembly of proteins into complexes. Recently, the emergence of new experimental and computational techniques, along with the increasing availability of diverse structural, proteomic and genomic datasets, have created huge potential for investigating protein complex structure and assembly on a large scale.

Our research can be divided into two related streams. First, we are interested in the biology of protein complex assembly. In particular, we seek to understand how assembly occurs within cells, how it is regulated, and how it contributes to normal biological function. We are also interested in the relationship between protein complex assembly and evolution.

Second, we are interested in the role of protein complexes in human disease. In particular, we are investigating how the location of a mutation within a protein complex influences its propensity to be associated with disease. Our early work strongly suggests that incorporating quaternary structural information can substantially improve methods for predicting mutation pathogenicity and prioritising causal variants.

Research Programme: Computational Protein Biology