Modulating redox states in heme peroxidases in synchrotron and XFEL experiments #HemeEnzymes #TimeResolvedCrystallography #Peroxidases doi.org/10.1107/S205...
Jonathan Worrall
@jarworrall.bsky.social
University of Essex Professor, heme and copper metalloenzymes, time-resolved structural biology and spectroscopy
RSC Inorganic Biochemistry Discussion Group (IBDG) Jubilee Meeting University of East Anglia 3–4 Sept 2026 Celebrating UK bioinorganic chemistry with keynotes, talks & posters. Featuring Emma Raven, Jon Lloyd, Jeannie Hess & Andrea Gallio. ibdgorguk.wordpress.com/meetings/ See you in Norwich!
Conferences | University of East Anglia Online Store
store.uea.ac.uk
New paper describing our time resolved SFX studies with spectroscopic validation through XES to propose new intermediates in heme peroxidases. A large team of researchers led by Essex and Diamond @jarworrall.bsky.social @diamondlightsource.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Can ferric-oxyl excited states explain elongated iron-oxygen bonds in heme peroxidase catalytic intermediates? - Nature Communications
Peroxidases have long been considered to use ferryl heme intermediates (Fe(IV) = O) to catalyze oxidative chemistries. Here, Williams et al. find that ferric-oxyl (FeIII–O•–) excited states exist alon...
nature.com
New paper out on modulating redox states in heme peroxidases in synchrotron and XFEL experiments journals.iucr.org/d/issues/202... - nice collaboration with @jarworrall.bsky.social using PAL-FEL and DLS I24
Generation and modulation of catalytically relevant states of a dye-decolourizing peroxidase using time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallography with drop-on-chip mixing and X-ray-driven reduction
We characterize the formation of a ferryl state of a dye-decolourizing peroxidase by drop-on-chip serial femtosecond crystallography and also the modulation of the heme redox state using dose-resolved...
journals.iucr.org
Quite a bit of work to get this to publication... but here you go. #protein #dynamics 🧪 How a protein repurposes vitamin B12 as a light sensor www.nature.com/articles/d41...
How a protein repurposes vitamin B12 as a light sensor
Intense, ultrashort X-ray pulses have been used to probe the extraordinary reactions that occur in a light-sensing receptor, resolving a biochemical conundrum.
nature.com
Just out: Minimized sample consumption for time-resolved serial crystallography applied to the redox cycle of human NQO1
Minimized sample consumption for time-resolved serial crystallography applied to the redox cycle of human NQO1
Communications Chemistry, Published online: 29 January 2026; doi:10.1038/s42004-026-01908-9Time-resolved serial femtosecond crystallography at X-ray free-electron lasers is a powerful approach for studying macromolecular dynamics, but its widespread use is limited by high sample consumption. Here, the authors introduce a segmented-droplet mix-and-inject strategy at the European XFEL that reduces sample consumption by up to 97% while preserving the data quality required for time-resolved structural studies of the enzyme NQO1.
dlvr.it
Rare work related post. Increasing X-ray energy improves data quality in serial #crystallography 🧪 journals.iucr.org/s/issues/202...
Increasing X-ray energy improves data quality in serial crystallography
Advanced serial crystallography utilizing high-energy X-rays enhances diffraction efficiency, data quality and structural resolution under room-temperature conditions.
journals.iucr.org
We have a fixed term beamline scientist post available at VMXi, Diamond. The successful applicant will join the team at a dedicated room temperature MX beamline and help with user experiments in fragment screening and time resolved serial crystallography. vacancies.diamond.ac.uk/vacancy/beam...
Beamline Scientist - VMXi (11779)
vacancies.diamond.ac.uk
Very cool structures, congrats to all! #microsky Link seemed broken though so here's a working one: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Jon Marles-Wright@jmarlesw.bsky.social · 9mo agoPleased to see this collaboration with a great PhD student Pei Cing Ng, from Prof. Luning Liu's lab at Liverpool University published. Structure of the H. neapolitanus carbonic anhydrase and localisation in a mini-carboxysome: www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....
Vincent, Morra, and Rodríguez-Maciá demonstrate that truncating the electron transfer domain of [FeFe]-hydrogenase does *not* diminish their catalytic efficiency (via ACS Catalysis). doi.org/10.1021/acsc...
Engineering the Electron Relay in [FeFe]-Hydrogenase Enhances Electrocatalytic H2 Evolution
H2 is an ideal energy vector, but catalysts for its clean production from water are inefficient or expensive. [FeFe]-hydrogenases are the most active H2-converting catalysts in nature, using a unique ...
doi.org
I am very excited to share our new preprint - "A Zundel Ion in the Catalytic Proton Transfer Pathway of [FeFe]-Hydrogenase" - for which we revisited an older theory of ours, and came to surprising conclusions... 🧵 doi.org/10.26434/che...
Cellulose biosynthesis and function in Streptomyces @cp-trendsmicrobiol.bsky.social by Chennan Yang, @xiaobozhong.bsky.social and Dennis Claessen www.cell.com/trends/micro...
Cellulose biosynthesis and function in Streptomyces
Cellulose, a ubiquitous polysaccharide with critical roles in life, provides structural integrity to cells in plants and aids biofilm formation in many bacteria. Although bacterial cellulose biosynthe...
cell.com
The effort adopts community tools like FindGeo (MetalPDB) and MetalCoord (CCP4). Details and example files are available at wwPDB.org . For queries: info@wwpdb.org
wwPDB: Worldwide Protein Data Bank
wwPDB: Worldwide Protein Data Bank
wwpdb.org
Metalloproteins make up ~30% of the PDB archive. To ensure FAIR data practices, wwPDB is remediating existing polyatomic metal-containing entries and CCDs — improving their chemical and coordination descriptions for better findability and reuse.
I enjoyed contributing to this article from the @jarworrall.bsky.social lab at the @universityofessex.bsky.social during a visit over their summer. A first foray for me into P450 peroxygenase fatty acid decarboxylases to make alkenes from fatty acids. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
The cytochrome P450 decarboxylase from Staphylococcus aureus can produce a diene from a C18 monounsaturated fatty acid: A spectroscopic, structural and kinetic characterisation
Certain members of the bacterial cytochrome P450 152 family (CYP152) are peroxygenases that catalyse the decarboxylation of fatty acids into terminal …
sciencedirect.com
Our first foray into the P450 world. Thanks to @bellp450enzyme.bsky.social for sharpening our GC-MS skill set @jamesbirrell.bsky.social for the microwaves😃 and Lewis for persevering 🧪
The cytochrome P450 decarboxylase from Staphylococcus aureus can produce a diene from a C18 monounsaturated fatty acid: A spectroscopic, structural and kinetic characterisation
Certain members of the bacterial cytochrome P450 152 family (CYP152) are peroxygenases that catalyse the decarboxylation of fatty acids into terminal …
sciencedirect.com
Delightful combination of spectroscopies (electronic, microwave) and protein crystallography in @jarworrall.bsky.social's new paper on cytochrome P450 decarboxylase from Staphylococcus aureus 🤩 doi.org/10.1016/j.ji...
How do protons get delivered to the active site of heme peroxidases? A combination of solvent channels and electric fields, say @petermoody.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Solvent Channels and Electric Fields Guide Proton Delivery to the Active Site of Heme Peroxidases
Electrostatic potential surfaces and electric field lines reveal that local fields guide proton delivery through multiple conserved solvent channels in heme peroxidases, enabling efficient access to ....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Recent paper showing the power of combining advanced structural biology with QM/MM simulations to understand a heme enzyme. Work between Diamond, STFC, Bristol and Essex. We present evidence for the presence of an unusual protein to heme cross-link. pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
pubs.rsc.org
New paper describing use of photocaged nitric oxide for time resolved crystallography within fixed targets at XFEL and synchrotron - PhD work of Pete Smyth & Lewis Williams - great collaboration with @jarworrall.bsky.social, beamline I24 and SACLA. Funded by BBSRC journals.iucr.org/m/issues/202...
Time-resolved serial synchrotron and serial femtosecond crystallography of heme proteins using photocaged nitric oxide
We demonstrate the application of a nitric oxide releasing photocage system for time-resolved serial crystallography studies of two heme containing proteins using a fixed target sample delivery system...
journals.iucr.org
For those on #chemsky interested in metal binding peptides and enzyme mimics, check out our latest paper doi.org/10.1002/anie.... A huge thanks to all co-authors, in particular the amazing Enrico Falcone!
doi.org
Exploring the 'jigglings and wigglings' that help explain what proteins are really up to – and it's anything but static.
Serial femtosecond crystallography reveals protein dynamics in real time
Proteins are constantly moving, but our structures of them are static. Clare Sansom talks to the researchers using free-electron lasers to make time-resolved structures
chemistryworld.com
We are delighted to confirm that the and Other Redox Metalloenzymes will take place from 26-30 July 2026 at the University of Leicester, UK. Details of the conference, including regularly updated confirmed speakers, are available on our website (link in bio).
Genetically modified E coli used to create painkillers from material produced from plastic bottles www.theguardian.com/...
Scientists use bacteria to turn plastic waste into paracetamol
Genetically modified E coli used to create painkillers from material produced from plastic bottles
theguardian.com
Thrilled to have this work published! Thanks to some awesome teamwork, we've demonstrated improvements in multi-crystal data clustering by automatically separating 🐮🐷🧑🔬 #multicrystal #clustering #crystallography doi.org/10.1107/S205...
Enhanced intensity-based clustering of isomorphous multi-crystal data sets in the presence of subtle variations
Bovine, porcine and human insulin data sets are isomorphous in terms of unit cell and symmetry. Through enhancements to the multi-crystal clustering methods in DIALS, species-pure data sets are automa...
doi.org
Out now in @chemicalscience.rsc.org: We apply 2DIR spectroscopy to study [FeFe] hydrogenase for the first time. Check it out! pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
Two-dimensional Infrared Spectroscopy as a Tool to Reveal the Vibrational and Molecular Structure of [FeFe] Hydrogenases
[FeFe] hydrogenases are Nature’s most efficient catalysts for the cleavage and evolution of molecular hydrogen. Despite decades of research, key aspects of the catalytic cycle and the underlying geome...
pubs.rsc.org
Every year I co-organise a popular protein engineering workshop with @Biochemsoc.bsky.social - this year we will be in Birmingham 18-19 Nov. Booking hasn't opened yet but interest can be registered here. We had a wonderful group last year-join us! www.biochemistry.org/events-and-t...
Engineering Recombinant Proteins for Structural and Functional Studies 2025
This training event will explore strategies for producing high-quality, pure, and homogenous recombinant proteins - essential for both structural and functional studies. Aimed at early career research...
biochemistry.org
Our new paper exploring the effect of XFEL pulse length and pulse intensity on electron density maps of two radiation sensitive proteins. A great collaboration between Diamond, SwissFEL and University of Essex's Worrall group. journals.iucr.org/m/issues/202...
Damage before destruction? X-ray-induced changes in single-pulse serial femtosecond crystallography
Varied pulse-duration and pulse-intensity serial femtosecond crystallography data do not show significant signs of radiation damage under typical experimental conditions.
journals.iucr.org
Participants in the annual serial crystallography workshop for graduates student some funded by our @wellcometrust.bsky.social PhD program have got homework to do in the evening time …. @diamondlightsource.bsky.social @instruct-eric.bsky.social
Big day today! Excited to share our new publication in @chemcomm.rsc.org about the formation of the very important hydride state in [FeFe] hydrogenases! Enjoy the reading! ☺️ pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
pubs.rsc.org