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Families Learn about Juicy Genes

Researchers from the Kawamura Research Group hosted an activity at this year’s Discover Festival – a one-day interactive event for families and members of the public on 7th June 2025 at Newcastle University.  The hands-on activity provided attendees with an opportunity to extract and see DNA using a simple experiment involving kiwis and strawberries, as well as better understand the role that DNA plays, and why epigenetics is important when fighting diseases like cancer.   “It was so great to see so many passionate young minds that were keen to try our practical experiment. Teaching them more about DNA and it’s role in epigenetics was very rewarding!” – Rob Dawber, Research… Read More »Families Learn about Juicy Genes

Klem Simelis Presents his Work at RSC Chemical Biology Conference, Ireland

Earlier this week, Klem attended the RSC ChemBio conference in Ireland where he presented his DPhil work on the characterisation of TET enzyme bimodal activity, highlighting previously unappreciated poor coupling of 5-methylcytosine hydroxylase and 2-OG decarboxylase enzyme activities, which may have implications for the control of TCA cycle intermediate formation and inhibitor development. 

Thesis hand in day for Klem!

Our group member Klemensas Simelis based at Oxford University handed in his thesis this week. Klem’s research looked at the “Development of Chemical Tools for Ten-Eleven Translocation Enzymes”. A summary of his project follows: Methylation of DNA (5-methylcytosine) is an epigenetic mark that typically silences gene expression. Ten-Eleven Translocation enzymes (TETs) oxidise the methyl groups of 5-methylcytosine, forming epigenetic DNA marks with distinct functions and facilitating DNA demethylation by other cellular mechanisms, which restores gene expression. The work discussed in the thesis is focused on: i) broadening the understanding of how these enzymes work using biochemical assays to detect catalytic activity, and ii) developing small molecule and cyclic peptide TET inhibitors… Read More »Thesis hand in day for Klem!

Chiara selected to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting!

We are delighted to announce that Chiara Maniaci has been selected to attend the prestigious 71st Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in June. Chiara will join a cohort of 611 of the most qualified young scientists from 91 countries after a rigorous selection process.  She was nominated by the Royal Society and assessed on academic ability, motivation, and extra-curricular activities in a multi-stage process. The meeting will take place in Lindau, Germany from 26 June – 1 July, the participants will be able to meet each other and around 30 Nobel Laureates in person.  The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings foster the exchange among scientists of different generations, cultures, and disciplines. Chiara… Read More »Chiara selected to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting!

New Epigenetics Paper by Roman Belle and Team

Congratulations to Roman Belle on the publications of ‘Reading and erasing of the phosphonium analogue of trimethyllysine by epigenetic proteins‘. We are very happy to have published this work in great collaboration between academic groups in the UK, the Netherlands, Spain and Denmark. Thanks to all involved: Jos J. A. G. Kamps, Jordi Poater, Kiran Kumar, Bas J. G. E. Pieters, Eidarus Salah, Timothy D. W. Claridge, Robert S. Paton, F. Matthias Bickelhaupt, Akane Kawamura, Christopher J. Schofield & Jasmin Mecinović. The work was supported by the European Research Council, Cancer Research UK, EPSRC, Clarendon Scholarship, the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research, the Spanish MINECO, and a World Bank Education… Read More »New Epigenetics Paper by Roman Belle and Team

Great North Museum Science Fair

The Kawamura Group had a great day at the Great North Museum (GNM) Family Outreach Science Fair on 24th February 2022. The fair was part of the series of events to mark 150 years of Science, Agriculture and Engineering at Newcastle University.  It celebrated the shared history of collaborations between GNM and Newcastle University.  Open to the general public as part of GNM’s half-term programme, it involved a series of different activities showcasing research from across the faculty. It was a fantastic opportunity to share our research and to engage the next generation of scientists. It was also a great opportunity for the PGRs in the group to gain some… Read More »Great North Museum Science Fair

Congratulations Kieran

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Many congratulations to Kieran Thow for completing his Part II. Kieran made significant progress on the biochemical characterisations of TET-related enzyme. All the best for the future!

Paper in JBC

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Paper in JBC – Engineered anti-inflammatory peptides inspired by mapping an evasin-chemokine interaction. Our latest paper on the development of anti-inflammatory peptides inspired by tick evasins is out now in Journal of Biological Chemistry.  Multi-disciplinary collaborative work with Prof. Shoumo Bhattacharya & Prof. Carol Robinson Groups, with Benoit Darlot & James Eaton from the group leading the study. This work was funded by the BHF, Oxford BHF Centre for Research Excellence and SBM.

Gordon Research Conference on Chemistry and Biology of Peptides 2020

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Attendance at the Gordon Research Conference on Chemistry and Biology of Peptides 2020 in Ventura, CA, USA. (9-14/02/2020) Benoit Darlot presented his work on tick saliva protein inspired anti-inflammatory peptides to the peptide community in Ventura. Great opportunity to share the lab’s work and get inspiration from the growing peptide community. (Blog by B.D.)