Objectives: Develop clickable/biotinylated SMALP nanodiscs for EGFR and LTK; quantify dimerization and conformational engagement using TR-FRET and smFRET; define how AfBP-locking reshapes membrane-embedded kinase dynamics; identify SMALP conditions that best approximate cellular phenotypes; provide a biophysical “translation layer’’ linking WP1/WP2 assays to WP4 cellular readouts.
Expected results: A SMALP-based native-membrane assay platform preserving functional kinase states; comparative TR-FRET/smFRET datasets benchmarked against soluble controls; protocols and datasets deposited as FAIR resources; a platform-style paper linking membrane-embedded conformations to cellular signatures.
Secondments: UoC: smFRET benchmarking of SMALP-incorporated kinases (M19–22; 4 months); KUL: Assay-harmonisation and cross-platform alignment with WP1 pipelines (M30–32; 3 months).
Integration: Provides membrane-native reference states for WP1 assay calibration, informs WP2 structural and dynamic interpretations and aligns WP3 discovery outputs with WP4 cellular behaviour.
Interdisciplinarity: Combines membrane biophysics (SMALPs), smFRET, assay integration and cross-WP methodological harmonisation.
