Research Output per year
Personal profile
Research Interests
I lead AMPL, a collaborative, multidisciplinaryteam of six principal investigators, who work on membrane proteins and lipids at Aston. Membrane proteins play pivotal roles in all cellular functions including the transport of nutrients, the export of toxins and cell-cell interactions. They are also ubiquitous: ~30% of all proteins in all cells are membrane proteins. Consequently they are already key drug targets, with the majority of prescription pharmaceuticals on the market being targeted to this class of protein. Unfortunately, however, they are neither naturally abundant nor stable, which means that in the vast majority of cases extracting them from natural sources is not a viable option in order to study their structures, functions and biochemistry.
A main theme of our research activity is developing yeast as a “cell factory” to synthesize recombinant membrane proteins in sufficient quantity and of appropriate quality for further study. Our approach is to move away from “trial and error” and to rationalize recombinant protein production by understanding the host cell response to it. We aim to increase the volumetric yield, increase the yield “per cell” and understand the molecular mechanisms involved.
We work on a range of membrane proteins. One of our projects examines in detail the regulation of the aquaporin water channel proteins. Aquaporins form one of the protein families we produce in our yeast cell factories and are of interest as novel drug targets. We recently showed that AQP1 is regulated by extracellular water availability (Biochemistry. 2010, 49:821-3). This work was featured on the front cover of its issue, and as part of the 50th birthday cover. We also work on tetraspanins, especially CD81, as well as a range of GPCRs.
We acknowledge EPSRC, BBSRC, the Technology Strategy Board, AstraZeneca Ltd, Alpha Biologics Ltd, Applikon Biotechnology, Johnson & Johnson, Glycoform Ltd, Polytherics Ltd and the European Commission for their support. We have co-ordinated three Framework Programme 6 projects: European Membrane Protein Consortium (E-MeP), E-MeP-Lab and OptiCryst. We are also a partner of the Framework Programme 7 EDICT project.
See my profile on ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Roslyn_Bill
Follow me on Twitter: @RoslynBill
Employment
- 2012-date Professor of Biotechnology, Aston University
- 2010-2012 Director of Aston Research Centre for Healthy Ageing
- 2005-2012 Reader in Molecular Biosciences, Aston University
- 2002-2004 Innovation Fellow (40% at BPU: 60% at LHS), Aston University
- 2001-02 Assistant Professor, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden
Shareholder in the start-up company Gothia Yeast Solutions AB
Co-founder and Manager of the Expression & Purification Laboratory of the SWEGENE Membrane Protein Centre - 1998-01 Researcher, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden (PI: Professor Stefan Hohmann)
Member of EC-funded Göteborg Yeast Centre - 1996-98 Fulbright Scholar, University of Michigan, USA (PI: Professor Gary Glick)
- 1994-96 Clinical Scientist, Department of Medical Genetics, Addenbrooke's NHS Trust, Cambridge, UK
- 1991-94 DPhil, Wellcome Trust Prize Student, University of Oxford (Supervisor: Professor Sabine Flitsch)
- 1990-91 Technical Assistant, Abel & Imray Chartered Patent Agents, UK
- 1986-90 BA (Hons), 1st class, Natural Science (Chemistry), University of Oxford (BA Grad. 1991 MA Grad. 1993)
Administrative Roles
Associate Dean (Research) for the School of Life and Health Sciences
Member of the Biosciences Research Group; Cellular and Molecular Biomedicine
Member - Aston Research Centre for Healthy Ageing and Aston Membrane Proteins and Lipids
Contact Details
email: r.m.bill@aston.ac.uk
telephone: +44 121 204 4274
fax: +44 121 204 4175
External positions
Chair, BBSRC Research Committee E
External Examiner MSc Industrial Biotechnology, University of York
Keywords
- QH301 Biology
- Yeast, membrane proteins, aquaporin, tetraspanin, GPCR
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Research Output 1996 2020
Analyzing recombinant protein production in Pichia pastoris with targeted proteomics
Bill, R. M., Ulke-Lemée, A., Cartwright, S. P., Far, R., Kim, J. & MacDonald, J. A., 9 Feb 2019, Recombinant Protein Production in Yeast. Gasser, B. & Mattanovich, D. (eds.). Humana Press, Vol. 1923. p. 187-209 23 p. (Methods in Molecular Biology; vol. 1923).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
Expression and purification of recombinant G protein-coupled receptors: A review
Wiseman, D. N., Otchere, A., Patel, J. H., Uddin, R., Pollock, N. L., Routledge, S. J., Rothnie, A. J., Slack, C., Poyner, D. R., Bill, R. M. & Goddard, A. D., 31 Oct 2019, In : Protein Expression and Purification. 167, 105524.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Functional expression of Multidrug Resistance Protein 4 MRP4/ABCC4
Hardy, D., Bill, R. M., Jawhari, A. & Rothnie, A. J., 1 Dec 2019, In : SLAS Discovery. 24, 10, p. 1000-1008 9 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
Inhibitors of Mammalian Aquaporin Water Channels
Abir-Awan, M., Kitchen, P., Salman, M. M., Conner, M. T., Conner, A. C. & Bill, R. M., 29 Mar 2019, In : International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 20, 7, 1589.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article
Lignocellulosic ethanol production: Evaluation of new approaches, cell immobilization and reactor configurations
Karagoz, P., Bill, R. M. & Ozkan, M., 1 Dec 2019, In : Renewable energy. 143, p. 741-752 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article
Thesis
Engineering yeast for G protein-coupled receptor functional studies: pharmacological characterisation of adrenergic receptors
Author: Mikaliunaite, L., 1 Mar 2018Supervisor: Bill, R. M. (Supervisor) & Dowell, S. (Supervisor)
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy
Improved production of industrially relevant recombinant proteins: application of multi-factorial design of experiments and scalable process modelling
Author: Holmes, W., Feb 2009Supervisor: Bill, R. M. (Supervisor)
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy
Improving recombinant human adenosine A2A receptor production in yeast
Author: Bawa, Z., 25 Jun 2014Supervisor: Bill, R. M. (Supervisor)
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy
Investigation of the activation mechanism and structural characterization of the CGRP receptor
Author: Kuteyi, G., 6 Dec 2013Supervisor: Poyner, D. R. (Supervisor) & Bill, R. M. (Supervisor)
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy
Novel strategies to improve recombinant membrane protein production in yeast
Author: Dilworth, M., 2 Aug 2014Supervisor: Bill, R. M. (Supervisor) & Gross, S. R. (Supervisor)
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis › Doctor of Philosophy
Activities 2007 2015
Current Opinion in Structural Biology (Journal)
Roslyn Bill (Guest editor)Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial activity
External Examiner MSc Molecular Biotechnology
Roslyn Bill (Examiner)Activity: Examination types › Examination
Microbial Cell Factories (Journal)
Roslyn Bill (Editorial board member)Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial activity
Molecular Membrane Biology (Journal)
Roslyn Bill (Guest editor)Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial activity
Molecular Biotechnology (Journal)
Roslyn Bill (Editorial board member)Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editorial activity