SWM publications

A lipid-based delivery platform for thermo-responsive delivery of teriparatide. Schlosser CS, Rozek W, Mellor RD, Manka SW, Morris CJ, Brocchini S, Williams GR. Int J Pharm. 2024

Mapping the Binding Sites of MMPs on Types II and III Collagens Using Triple-Helical Peptide Toolkits. Manka SW. Methods Mol Biol. 2023

Structural insights into how augmin augments the mitotic spindle. Manka SW. Nat Commun. 2023

A structural basis for prion strain diversity. Manka SW, Wenborn A, Betts J, Joiner S, Saibil HR, Collinge J, Wadsworth JDF. Nat Chem Biol. 2023

Prion Propagation is Dependent on Key Amino Acids in Charge Cluster 2 within the Prion Protein. Bhamra S, Arora P, Manka SW, Schmidt C, Brown C, Rayner MLD, Klöhn PC, Clarke AR, Collinge J, Jat PS. J Mol Biol. 2023

Prion strains viewed through the lens of cryo-EM. Manka SW, Wenborn A, Collinge J, Wadsworth JDF. Cell Tissue Res. 2022

2.7 Å cryo-EM structure of ex vivo RML prion fibrils. Manka SW, Zhang W, Wenborn A, Betts J, Joiner S, Saibil HR, Collinge J, Wadsworth JDF. Nat Commun. 2022

Lattice defects induced by microtubule-stabilizing agents exert a long-range effect on microtubule growth by promoting catastrophes. Rai A, Liu T, Katrukha EA, Estévez-Gallego J, Manka SW, Paterson I, Díaz JF, Kapitein LC, Moores CA, Akhmanova A. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021

Thermodynamic and Mechanistic Insights into Coupled Binding and Unwinding of Collagen by Matrix Metalloproteinase 1. Manka SW, Brew K. J Mol Biol. 2020

Pseudo-repeats in doublecortin make distinct mechanistic contributions to microtubule regulation. Manka SW, Moores CA. EMBO Rep. 2020

Structural studies of the MMP-3 interaction with triple-helical collagen introduce new roles for the enzyme in tissue remodeling. Manka SW, Bihan D, Farndale RW. Sci Rep. 2019

A microtubule RELION-based pipeline for cryo-EM image processing. Cook AD, Manka SW, Wang S, Moores CA, Atherton J. J Struct Biol. 2020

Cryo-TEM and biological structure determination. Manka SW, Moores CA. Essays Biochem. 2018 Dec

Microtubule structure by cryo-EM: snapshots of dynamic instability. Manka SW, Moores CA. Essays Biochem. 2018 Dec

The role of tubulin-tubulin lattice contacts in the mechanism of microtubule dynamic instability. Manka SW, Moores CA. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 2018

Treg cell function in rheumatoid arthritis is compromised by ctla-4 promoter methylation resulting in a failure to activate the indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase pathway. Cribbs AP, Kennedy A, Penn H, Read JE, Amjadi P, Green P, Syed K, Manka SW, Brennan FM, Gregory B, Williams RO. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2014

Structural insights into triple-helical collagen cleavage by matrix metalloproteinase 1. Manka SW, Carafoli F, Visse R, Bihan D, Raynal N, Farndale RW, Murphy G, Enghild JJ, Hohenester E, Nagase H. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012

Highlights

Structural insights into how augmin augments the mitotic spindle

13 April 2023 | Comment

Cell division critically requires amplification of microtubules (MTs) in the bipolar mitotic spindle. This relies on the filamentous augmin complex that enables MT branching. Studies by Gabel et al., Zupa et al. and Travis et al. describe consistent integrated atomic models of the extraordinarily flexible augmin complex. Their work prompts the question: what is this flexibility really needed for?

16 January 2023 | Research paper

Prion strain diversity in mice

Manka et al. publish the cryo-EM structure of infectious, ex vivo mouse prion fibrils from the ME7 prion strain and compare it with the RML fibril structure. This structural comparison of two biologically distinct mouse-adapted prion strains suggests defined folding subdomains of PrP, providing a structural definition of intra-species prion strain-specific conformations.

Prion strains viewed through the lens of cryo-EM

27 August 2022 | Review

In vitro generated PrP amyloids (a-c) consist of paired protofilaments encompassing short segments of the PrP chain, while highly infectious, ex vivo prion fibrils from mouse RML (d) and hamster 263K (e) prion strains present single protofilaments spanning a large portion of PrP. The fibrils have a comparable parallel in-register intermolecular β-sheet (PIRIBS) architecture that now provides a structural foundation for understanding prion strain diversity in mammals. Manka et al. review these new findings and discuss directions for future research.

12 October 2018 | Review article and cover art

Microtubule structure by cryo-EM: snapshots of dynamic instability

The development of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) allowed microtubules to be captured in their solution-like state, enabling decades of insight into their dynamic mechanisms and interactions with binding partners. The snapshots of these polymers captured using cryo-EM will continue to provide critical insights into their dynamics, interactions with cellular components, and the way microtubules contribute to cellular functions in diverse physiological contexts.