ANSTO will hold a free science talk on December 7 at Lucas Heights on research into the cell structures that determine our mood and help us design better and safer drugs.
Serotonin receptors are a group of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) found in the central and peripheral nervous systems that influence various biological and neurological processes such as aggression, anxiety, appetite, learning, memory, mood, nausea and sleep.
They have been the target of research by scientists around the world for the development of pharmaceutical drugs, including many antidepressants.
Molecular biology and biochemist Dr Eric Xu has been working in this field for a number of years.
In a science talk titled “Structure and drug discovery of G-protein coupled receptors”, the Primary Investigator and Distinguished Director of the VARI/SIMM Research Center in Shanghai, China will present some of his groups’ recent progress in structure determination of serotonin receptors at the Australian Nuclear Science and technology Organisation (ANSTO) at Lucas Heights.
G-protein coupled receptors comprise the largest of cell-surface receptor family that play key roles in wide spectrum of human physiology, as such they are the molecular targets for over 50 per cent of clinical drugs.
The work being conducted by Dr Xu and others aims to better understand these structures, which has important implications in design and discovery of better and safer drugs.
Dr Xu will join us as part of ANSTO’s monthly Distinguished Lecture series where world leading experts look at the world through the prism of science.
The TED-styled talks run for an hour and delve into a range of scientific endeavours providing the latest research and developments in fields varying from nanotechnology, biochemistry to neutron scattering.