Weighing
Molecules: how do proteins shape up?
Professor Margaret Sheil
Understanding living organisms and
cells requires knowledge of the components of cells, such as proteins, DNA,
metal ions, and small molecules like sugars and hormones. It is also critical to
understand how the different components interact with each other when cells are
subject to changes that occur upon ageing; during the progression of a disease;
under stress; or after drug treatment. Together, information about cell
components and their interactions gives us a better understanding of diseases
and possible treatments at the molecular level. For example, the onset of
cataracts, Alzheimers, and a wide variety of different cancers can be traced
back to changes in proteins and/or DNA and the interactions between them.
Prof. Margaret Sheil’s research
involves use of a powerful technique, mass spectrometry,
in the study of proteins and the interactions between proteins, between proteins
and DNA, and between DNA and molecules such as anticancer drugs. Mass
spectrometry relies on the mass (or the weight) which is an intrinsic property
of all molecules. Until the late 1980s, the technique was limited in the size of
molecule that could be measured or weighed.
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The CEO of the Australian Research Council, Professor Peter Hoj, officially opens the new Biomolecular Mass Spectrometry Facilities housed at the University of Wollongong watched by (from left) Dr Jenny Beck (Chemistry, UOW), Professor Rob Whelan (Dean of Science, UOW), Dr Nicholas Dixon (Chemistry, ANU), Professor Margaret Sheil (Pro Vice-Chancellor Research UOW), Professor Gerard Sutton (Vice-Chancellor, UOW) and Dr Stephen Blanksby (Chemistry, UOW) |
Recent developments, however, have
dramatically
increased the upper mass limit. This was recognized with the award of the Nobel
Prize in Chemistry in 2002 to John Fenn and Koichi Tanaka who discovered the
secrets for
measuring the masses of very large molecules (up to 1 million times the size of a hydrogen atom). The use of mass spectrometry to study large complexes allows investigation of a variety of important biological systems, including the molecular machinery that causes cells to reproduce (i.e. the replisome), viruses and complexes formed with anticancer drugs. Margaret continues to be interested in the power of this technique for probing the molecular basis of cellular processes.
Margaret was appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Wollongong (UOW) in March 2002. She has been at the University of Wollongong since 1990, when she was appointed
lecturer in the Department of Chemistry. She made a rapid rise from lecturer to Professor of Chemistry (2000), and was briefly Dean of Science (2001). Prior to coming to Wollongong, she held Research Fellow positions at the Australian National University and the University of Utah, USA. Margaret came to her current position with a strong research background, attested to by more than 70 refereed journal articles and book chapters and over $4 million in external grant support from the ARC and Australian industry; and extensive research management experience gained in Faculty and University committees and centres prior to her appointment. She holds and has held numerous executive positions and memberships of University, National and International bodies, including the Australian Research Council, the CRC for Smart Internet Technology, the Wollongong Science Centre Board, the Australian and New Zealand Society for Mass Spectrometry, the International Society for Mass Spectrometry and the Editorial Board of the European Journal of Mass Spectrometry.
Margaret is married to Chris who manages a large cinema complex, and is a keen home renovator. They have a daughter Elizabeth, aged 11. Margaret enjoys walking along the beach, swimming, occasional golf and reading in her rare moments of spare time.