Speaker: Prof. Christos Pliotas from the University of Manchester.

Title: "Using integrative Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy 
to understand membrane protein structure, function and dynamics"


Date: Monday, 23rd March 2026 - Time: 4 PM
Tea & Coffee: 5 PM
Venue: CeNSE Seminar Hall


Abstract:

Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy has emerged as a powerful tool over the last 
decade for assessing protein conformation, folding, oligomerisation, and dynamics. 
EPR distance measurements provide high-resolution quantitative information on protein equilibria, 
dovetailing well with techniques such as X-ray crystallography, Hydrogen Deuterium Exchange (HDX)
 mass spectrometry, cryoEM, and computational approaches such as molecular dynamics simulations, 
as a key part of integrative structural biology. An inherent limitation in membrane protein studies 
is the need to remove the protein from its natural membrane environment. However, recent developments 
have provided lipid scaffolds that mimic this environment and offer flexibility in lipid composition, 
while EPR measurements on membrane proteins can also be performed in cells. Here, I will focus on the 
application of pulsed EPR spectroscopy (PELDOR, or DEER) to the study of integral membrane proteins, 
highlighting recent case studies from my lab. I will explore conformational landscapes in human 
potassium K2P channels, an allosteric mechanism that regulates mechanosensitive ion channels, 
inhibition asymmetry in membrane Pyrophosphatases, pH dependence in secondary transporters, 
drug binding in human TRPC channels, and the effect of antibiotics on the conformation of the BAM 
complex, with measurements performed in intact cells.

Biography:
Dr Christos Pliotas obtained a BSc in Physics (University of Athens, Greece) and an MSc in 
Medical Physics (University of Aberdeen, UK). He then pursued a PhD in membrane ion channel 
proteins at the Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen. Christos then completed 
a postdoc specialising in structural biology of membrane proteins and Electron Paramagnetic 
Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy at the University of St Andrews, UK, with James H. Naismith FRS. 
He was subsequently awarded a Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellowship to become a principal 
investigator at the Biomedical Sciences Research Complex, University of St Andrews. 
Christos then moved to the Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology at the 
University of Leeds in October 2018, where he was an Assistant Professor in Integrative 
Membrane Biology. During his time in Leeds, he received a BBSRC New Investigator Award (2019) 
and the Sir Robin MacLellan Award (2022). As of June 2023, Christos has moved to the School of 
Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, as a Reader in membrane protein structural biology, 
where he leads the newly launched BioEmPiRe Centre for Structural Biological EPR Spectroscopy.  

Host Faculty:  Prof. Manoj Varma