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Robin Bon

@rsbon.bsky.social

1.1K followers 590 following 36 posts

Scientist, dad, carer. Interested in chemistry, biology, drug discovery, music and satire. Views my own.

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Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · 12h

Powerful messages about the opportunity to learn much more about these channels by studying structural dependence on various factors such as temperature and membrane environment. Experimental structural biology is far from finished!

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · 12h

Thanks to the @proteinsociety.bsky.social for organising an excellent virtual seminar on structural biology of #TRPchannels at different temperatures. Inspiring talks by Alexander Sobolevsky, Juan Du and David Julius, chaired by Yifan Cheng.

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · 22d

Congratulations to former PhD student Dr Aidan Johnson on winning the VC Jordan/PR Radford Prize 2025 for the best @astburycentre.bsky.social PhD thesis.

Also congratulations to PhD student Catalina Onel on passing her transfer viva yesterday.

Reposted by Robin Bon

Russ Jones @russincheshire.bsky.social · Aug 21

It is very nearly the tenth anniversary of that brief moment when, for 2 or 3 days, British newspapers remembered refugees are desperate human beings who need our help, rather than scum that it's okay to threaten with violence.

Alan Kurdi, dead on a beach

Reposted by Robin Bon

Stephan Hacker @stephanhacker2.bsky.social · Aug 12

Great opportunity to perform a #PhD in the field of #OrganicChemistry or #CellBiology / #Biochemistry with a great mentor in the group of Steven Verhelst (@verhelstlab.bsky.social) at KU Leuven!

#ChemBio #Academia

Verhelst Lab @verhelstlab.bsky.social · Aug 12

My lab has two open positions! One in Organic Chemistry (focus on carbohydrates), one in Cell Biology/Biochemistry. Deadline Sept 3rd, 2025!

PhD student Organic Synthesis: www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo...

PhD student Cell Biology/Biochemistry: www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo...

PhD student in Organic Synthesis

Organic synthesis in chemical biology project

www.kuleuven.be

Reposted by Robin Bon

Derek Lowe @dereklowe.bsky.social · Aug 14

No matter how hard you try, you simply cannot guess the journal withe the highest “impact factor” in organic chemistry last year. Really. Nor will you guess many of the other “winners”:

Journal Impact Nonsense

www.science.org

Reposted by Robin Bon

bioRxivpreprint @biorxivpreprint.bsky.social · Jul 13

(-)-Englerin A binds a conserved lipid site of TRPC5 and exposes a Met-aromatic motif in channel activation https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.07.09.663840v1

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · Jul 13

We thank our BBSRC @ukri.org, @thebhf.bsky.social, @wellcometrust.bsky.social, @royalsociety.org, @universityofleeds.bsky.social, and the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic for funding, and the incredible @astbury-bsl.bsky.social for facilities and support.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

(-)-Englerin A binds a conserved lipid site of TRPC5 and exposes a Met-aromatic motif in channel activation

TRPC4/5 cation channels are polymodal cellular sensors that play key roles in signal transduction/integration and have been implicated in various human pathologies, including anxiety, pain and cardiom...

www.biorxiv.org

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · Jul 13

This work was led by #cryoEM wizard Seb Porav, in a fantastic collaboration with Sasha Ptakova, @claudiabauer.bsky.social, @kasiahammond.bsky.social, David Beech, Viki Vlachova and @stemuench.bsky.social.

@astburycentre.bsky.social @bioscienceleeds.bsky.social @iphys-cas.bsky.social

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · Jul 13

In summary, we believe that this work represents a leap forward in understanding the #MolecularPharmacology of TRPC1/4/5 channels that will prove instrumental in TRPC1/4/5 drug discovery programmes.

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · Jul 13

In addition, our analyses allow us to rationalise the selectivity of EA with respect to related ion channels, as well as the pharmacological profile of TRPC1/4/5 inhibitors in ongoing clinical trials.

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · Jul 13

Structural similarity between TRPC1, TRPC4 and TRPC5, and the conservation of the EA binding site, suggest that our results extrapolate more generally to the TRPC1/4/5 sub-family – an emerging class of therapeutic targets for the treatment of anxiety disorders, cardiometabolic disease and pain.

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · Jul 13

We show that EA binds to a conserved lipid binding site between TRPC5 transmembrane domains and alters the aromatic interaction network of Phe520 with surrounding methionine residues. This work underscores the critical function of Met-aromatic motifs in ion channel #StructuralBiology and function.

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · Jul 13

We present nine new, high-resolution cryoEM structures of the human #TRPC5 #IonChannel in various states that reveal where and how EA binds to TRPC5 and - in combination with functional studies of TRPC5 variants - allow us to understand key molecular rearrangements related to channel gating.

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · Jul 13

#TRPchannels mediate cellular responses to various #NaturalProducts. #EnglerinA (EA), found in a plant used as a traditional medicine and a poison, is a potent and selective TRPC1/4/5 activator. However, how EA interacts with these channels has remained a mystery – until now.

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · Jul 13

We are proud to share our latest preprint: "(-)-Englerin A binds a conserved lipid site of TRPC5 and exposes a Met-aromatic motif in channel activation".

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Structure of human TRPC5 in complex with the plant nature product (-)-englerin A

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · Jun 18

To see all 16 articles, please follow this link: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · Jun 18

It has been great working with Matthew Langton to edit this themed issue of Current Opinion in Chemical Biology on Ion Transport across Biological Membranes. The collection of 16 articles is now complete.

Thanks to all authors and reviewers!

#ChemicalBiology

authors.elsevier.com/a/1lHil4sz6M...

authors.elsevier.com

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · Jun 12

An absolute pleasure to host @thornsesholdlab.bsky.social in Leeds today for an amazing @astburycentre.bsky.social seminar.

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · Apr 2

Couple trying unsuccessfully to use the self-scan passport gates at Schiphol, holding up the queue. Border guard over intercom: "Mr and Mrs Campbell, this is for European passports only - you voted for Brexit".

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · Apr 1

"These look similar...let's mix them"

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · Mar 13

They probably cannot believe you would not want to be a most distinguished speaker at the 3rd Global Summit on Greater Hog Badger Genetics

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · Mar 10

Interesting paper that we discussed in a recent group meeting. A lot of the things we like: ROS, reactive Cys, S-palmitoylation, nicely designed bioresponsive probes, mitochondrial targeting, cell imaging.

Cell Chemical Biology @cp-cellchembiol.bsky.social · Feb 26

Online now! Dynamic PRDX S-acylation modulates ROS stress and signaling by Tian Qiu, Saara-Anne Azizi, @shubha-pani.bsky.social, @chembiobryan.bsky.social et al at @uchichemistry.bsky.social @czbiohub.bsky.social http://dlvr.it/TJCBDQ

Reposted by Robin Bon

RSC Chemical Biology @rscchembio.rsc.org · Mar 6

RSC Chem. Biol. and @orgbiomolchem.rsc.org are proud to offer our support to the 2025 RSC Chemical Biology & Bioinorganic Group Postgraduate Symposium. Taking place 13 June in Aberdeen, United Kingdom, this meeting features exciting work from early career researchers: www.rsc.org/events/detai...

2025 RSC Chemical Biology and Bio-organic Group Postgraduate Symposium

Robin Bon @rsbon.bsky.social · Mar 3

May be a good one for the whole group...