Jane Dyson, PhD
Scripps Research Joint Appointments
Research Focus
NMR is the method of choice in studying unfolded proteins, as well as proteins such as the prion protein that have highly disordered parts. Since many of the entries in the published genomes appear to code for proteins that should be intrinsically unstructured, an understanding of the nature and behavior of unfolded proteins is assuming increasing importance. Many important proteins contain disordered or dynamic regions, making structure determination by X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM difficult. Incorporation of NMR studies into the determination of the structure and function of molecular machines can define not only structures of flexible portions, but can give insights into the role of molecular motions and disorder into the function of the machine. We have used such a combined approach to examine the complexes of the transcriptiion factor NF-kappaB with DNA and with its inhibitor IkappaB. These studies have led to new insights into the mechanisms by which NF-kappaB transcriptional activation is turned on and off. Another major emphasis in the lab is on the interactions of chaperones with their client proteins and co-chaperones. Again a combined approach using NMR gives new information on these dynamic and heterogeneous systems.
Education
B.S., Biochemistry, University of SydneyD.Sc., Faculty of Science, University of Sydney
Ph.D., Inorganic Chemistry, University of Sydney
Professional Experience
1977-1978 Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (supervisor Paul Schimmel).1979-1984 UNESCO Lecturer, School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales Australia.
1984-1988 Research Associate, Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute.
1988-1992 Assistant Member, Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute.
1992-1997 Associate Professor, Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute.
1997-2001 Associate Professor with Tenure, Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute
2001-2013 Professor, Department of Molecular Biology, The Scripps Research Institute
2013-present Professor, Department of Integrative Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute
Awards & Professional Activities
1971 Roslyn Flora Goulston Prize for Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney1977-1978 Postdoctoral Award, Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Fund
2009 Awarded D.Sc., Faculty of Science, University of Sydney
2010 Distinguished Scientist Award, San Diego Section of the American Chemical Society
2017-2021 Editor-in-Chief, Biophysical Journal
2019 ISMAR Prize
Selected References
Structural characterization of the ternary complex that mediates termination of NF-kB signaling by IkBa. S.P. Mukherjee, P.O. Quintas, R. McNulty, E.A. Komives and H.J. Dyson (2016) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 113, 6212-6217.
How does your Protein Fold? Elucidating the apomyoglobin folding pathway. H.J. Dyson and P.E. Wright (2017). Acc. Chem. Res. 50, 105-111.
The essential role of NMR in the discovery and characterization of intrinsically disordered proteins. H.J. Dyson and P.E. Wright (2019) J. Biomol. NMR 73, 651-659
NMR illuminates intrinsic disorder. H.J. Dyson and P.E. Wright (2021) Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 70, 44-52.
Interaction of a long non-coding RNA with the p65 subunit of NFκB: Implications for the inhibition of non-signal-related phosphorylation. A. Singh, M.A. Martinez-Yamout, P.E. Wright and H.J. Dyson (2022). Biochemistry 61, 367-376.