A major bottleneck in biomedical research is the scarcity of tools to study disease mechanisms directly in their 'true' biological environments, such as in living being, in an accurate manner. A remarkable example of the implications of this technology gap is given by our current understanding of dementia. Dementia is an umbrella term referring to a set of incurable diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and frontotemporal dementia. Altogether, these pathologies currently affect more than 50 million people worldwide. Despite this prevalence of dementia, we still lack effective diagnostic and therapeutic molecules for it because of the sparse information on the pathological mechanisms. A major mechanism of dementia is the formation of protein clusters in the nervous system, which are associated with cellular death. Over the last two decades, researchers have focused on understanding protein clustering under highly controlled experimental conditions using proteins in isolation (in vitro approaches). These accurate studies have contributed to the understanding of the physical laws that regulate protein clustering; nevertheless, they have also provided an overly simplistic picture of the clustering mechanism. They did not account for the many events in the nervous system, as proven by the fact that protein clusters isolated from patients are heavily chemically modified and tightly associated with other biomolecules, including nucleic acids. Because of their specific binding to targets, antibodies represent a fast-growing class of protein drugs and find a wide application as probes in biomedical research. Antibodies allow scientists to bridge highly precise in vitro measurements with the use of highly complex biological samples. Nevertheless, despite their potential, the use of antibodies is still hindered by challenges associated with their production. Antibody discovery can be a lengthy and costly procedure. Furthermore, several biomolecules, such as chemically modified proteins, protein clusters, and nucleic acids, are challenging to target with standard antibody-discovery approaches, despite these biomolecules being highly prevalent in diseases, e.g., dementia. The goal of this project is to deliver an innovative, generally applicable antibody-discovery technology able to target protein clusters which are chemically modified or in complex with other biomolecules, such as nucleic acids. To achieve our goal, we will work on two systems, the protein FUS and the transactive response DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43), involved in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Both proteins have been reported to undergo several types of chemical modifications and to bind to different RNA molecules. We will develop antibodies using our integrative discovery platform with the addition of a semi-automated screening component to target clusters of the proteins of interest carrying chemical modifications and/or in complex with RNAs associated with the disease. Thus, we will use the antibodies to monitor the distribution of the protein-RNA aggregates in human tissue. Our results will provide novel information on these diseases and lead to a generally applicable time- and cost-effective antibody-discovery technology to produce antibodies against biomolecules beyond proteins.

Supported heterogeneous catalysts comprising nano-sized metals/metal oxides such as Cr, Ni, Co, Au, Pd, Pt and Ag dispersed on an oxide support (i.e. SiO2/Al2O3), play a central role in an industry estimated to be worth ca. 1500 billion $US/annum. They are the principle protagonists in the conversion of fractions from natural oil and gas to produce, via core catalytic processes (i.e. polymerisation, isomerisation, reduction and oxidation), a wide variety of chemicals for everyday use. A combination of dwindling supply and increasing demand on these feedstocks means it is vital that catalysts and catalytic processes operate as efficiently as possible. Optimal efficiency is normally achieved by rationalisation of structure with function and forms the basis for much catalysis research. However the characterisation performed is often incomplete and rarely performed under reaction conditions leading to contrasting conclusions as to what makes a catalyst active. This project will develop more robust structure-activity relationships by correlating how parameters that influence catalyst performance i.e. nanoparticle size, shape, redox functionality and metal-support interactions, affect and evolve in core catalytic processes of hydrogenation and oxidation. The project adopts a novel approach drawing on skills in catalyst preparation and in situ catalyst characterisation to prepare size-controlled monometallic nanoparticles, deposited on a flat oxide supports and to characterise them in operando using simultaneous time-resolved grazing incidence X-ray scattering (GIXRS) techniques. In particular small angle/wide angle grazing incidence scattering methods (GISAXS/GIWAXS) will be used although attempts will also be made to extract pair distribution function ((GI)PDF) from the data to enable a more complete characterisation of the catalyst. Such a thorough characterisation has never been previously employed and will be used to determine the salient characteristics of catalytic nanoparticles in both two-phase (hydrogenation) and three-phase (oxidation) catalytic systems. It is expected that these measurements will prove invaluable for understanding what makes a supported nanoparticle tick and an important basis for future catalyst optimisation and design.

Iron sulfides are widespread in the environment, where they regulate and control the global geochemical iron and sulfur cycles. However, despite their application as indicators for seawater anoxia and recorders of early-life isotopic and paleomagnetic data, iron sulfide minerals are still largely unexplored compared to, for example, iron oxide minerals or the silicates or carbonates. Numerous iron sulfide phases are known, but many are highly unstable or only partially stable for a short time in the environment. Even the least reactive iron sulfide, pyrite, is no longer stable once exposed to air at the Earth's surface. Its dissolution leads to the problem of acid mine drainage, where sulfuric acid and any trapped toxic metals are released with devastating effects on the environment near the mine. However, iron sulfides also have beneficial effects on the environment, as they easily incorporate metals within their structure, and thus could be sinks for toxic metals or radioactive elements. An intriguing aspect of iron sulfides is the crucial role they may have played in the Origin of Life. Thin layers of iron-nickel sulfide are believed to have formed in the warm, alkaline springs on the bottom of the oceans on Early Earth. They are increasingly considered to have been the early catalysts for a series of chemical reactions leading to the emergence of life. The oxygen-free production of various organic compounds, including amino acids and nucleic acid bases - the building blocks of DNA - is thought to have been catalyzed by small iron-nickel-sulfur clusters, which are structurally similar to the highly reactive present day iron sulfide minerals greigite and mackinawite, yet we know little about how they form. In view of the likely role of such reactive minerals in the conversion of pre-biotic CO2 on Early Earth, we may well be able to harness iron sulfides as present-day catalysts for the same process, thereby potentially aiding the slowing down of climate change by converting the CO2 we produce into useful chemicals. In today's world, the importance of such iron-nickel-sulfide clusters as catalysts has been confirmed, as several life-essential iron-sulfur proteins help transform volatiles such as H2, CO and CO2 into other useful and less harmful chemicals. In all of the above examples, it is important to understand that the reactions that lead to the formation of all these minerals which are necessary for any of the geologically stable minerals to exist (i.e., pyrite) all rely on our understanding of the nucleation and growth of unstable precursors or of the reaction transforming one phase to another. Furthermore, the structure and reactivity of each of these phase determines its role and potential application in the environment. A few research groups in the UK and abroad have carried out high quality investigations of the properties of a number of iron sulfide minerals, but it is particularly difficult to investigate events early on in the nucleation process, even though they set the scene for all subsequent transformations. In this project we propose to employ a robust combination of state-of-the-art computation and experiment to unravel the nucleation of iron sulfide mineral phases. We aim to follow the reactions from the emergence of the first building block in solution, through agglomeration into larger clusters, their aggregation into nano-particles and the eventual transformation into the final crystal. We anticipate that this project, investigating short-lived processes which are only now accessible to study through the development of high temporal and spatial resolution in-situ characterization techniques and High Performance Computing platforms, will lead to in-depth step-by-step quantitative insight into the iron sulfide formation pathways and enhance our fundamental understanding of how a mineral nucleates in solution.

Iron sulfides are widespread in the environment, where they regulate and control the global geochemical iron and sulfur cycles. However, despite their application as indicators for seawater anoxia and recorders of early-life isotopic and paleomagnetic data, iron sulfide minerals are still largely unexplored compared to, for example, iron oxide minerals or the silicates or carbonates. Numerous iron sulfide phases are known, but many are highly unstable or only partially stable for a short time in the environment. Even the least reactive iron sulfide, pyrite, is no longer stable once exposed to air at the Earth's surface. Its dissolution leads to the problem of acid mine drainage, where sulfuric acid and any trapped toxic metals are released with devastating effects on the environment near the mine. However, iron sulfides also have beneficial effects on the environment, as they easily incorporate metals within their structure, and thus could be sinks for toxic metals or radioactive elements. An intriguing aspect of iron sulfides is the crucial role they may have played in the Origin of Life. Thin layers of iron-nickel sulfide are believed to have formed in the warm, alkaline springs on the bottom of the oceans on Early Earth. They are increasingly considered to have been the early catalysts for a series of chemical reactions leading to the emergence of life. The oxygen-free production of various organic compounds, including amino acids and nucleic acid bases - the building blocks of DNA - is thought to have been catalyzed by small iron-nickel-sulfur clusters, which are structurally similar to the highly reactive present day iron sulfide minerals greigite and mackinawite, yet we know little about how they form. In view of the likely role of such reactive minerals in the conversion of pre-biotic CO2 on Early Earth, we may well be able to harness iron sulfides as present-day catalysts for the same process, thereby potentially aiding the slowing down of climate change by converting the CO2 we produce into useful chemicals. In today's world, the importance of such iron-nickel-sulfide clusters as catalysts has been confirmed, as several life-essential iron-sulfur proteins help transform volatiles such as H2, CO and CO2 into other useful and less harmful chemicals. In all of the above examples, it is important to understand that the reactions that lead to the formation of all these minerals which are necessary for any of the geologically stable minerals to exist (i.e., pyrite) all rely on our understanding of the nucleation and growth of unstable precursors or of the reaction transforming one phase to another. Furthermore, the structure and reactivity of each of these phase determines its role and potential application in the environment. A few research groups in the UK and abroad have carried out high quality investigations of the properties of a number of iron sulfide minerals, but it is particularly difficult to investigate events early on in the nucleation process, even though they set the scene for all subsequent transformations. In this project we propose to employ a robust combination of state-of-the-art computation and experiment to unravel the nucleation of iron sulfide mineral phases. We aim to follow the reactions from the emergence of the first building block in solution, through agglomeration into larger clusters, their aggregation into nano-particles and the eventual transformation into the final crystal. We anticipate that this project, investigating short-lived processes which are only now accessible to study through the development of high temporal and spatial resolution in-situ characterization techniques and High Performance Computing platforms, will lead to in-depth step-by-step quantitative insight into the iron sulfide formation pathways and enhance our fundamental understanding of how a mineral nucleates in solution.

The thermal boundary layers of a convecting system control many aspects of its style of convection and thermo-chemical history. For the silicate Earth these boundary layers are the lithosphere, whose low temperature and high rigidity induces slab-style downwellings, and the D'' region on the mantle side of the core-mantle-boundary (CMB). The D'' region is the source of plume-style convection and regulates heat exchange from the core to the silicate Earth. The lower thermal boundary is made more complex by the existance of a phase transition in the most common mineral in the lower mantle (magnesium-silicate perovskite) which changes the properties of the D'' region at the CMB. Unfortunately, most of these properties cannot be measured at the extreme pressures (120 GPa) of stabilisation of the post-perovskite phase. The best chance of constraining them is through a combination of measurements on low-pressure analogue materials (which have the same crystal structure but a different chemical composition) and ab initio simulations of both the analogue and natural systems. We have recently developed a set of ABF3 analogues whose properties are much more similar to MgSiO3 than are those of the CaBO3 analogues currently in use. We propose, therefore, to use these improved fluoride analogues to determine the properties of post-perovskite which control the dynamics of D'' (phase diagram, pressure-temperature-volume relations, viscosity, slip systems and thermal diffusivity). These measurements will allow models to be developed which accurately predict the behaviour of the lower thermal boundary layer of the mantle. This will place coinstraints on (1) the heat budget, dynamo power and start of crystallisation of the inner core, (2)the vigour of plumes, (3) the ratio of underside heating to internal heating in the mantle and, (4) the radioactive element budget of the silicate Earth.