Dr Theo Crawford
Dr Crawford specialises in the biophysical characterisation of proteins, with a focus on the structure-function relationship of proteins with disulfide-rich peptides.
Dr Crawford completed his PhD in 2019 at The University of Queensland under the supervision of Dr Yasvir Tesiram developing a protein based molecular imaging probe to selectively target cancers. Throughout his PhD Dr Crawford took a multi-faceted approach to research developing expertise in molecular biology, recombination protein production, protein biochemistry, protein biophysical characterisation, cell biology, and molecular imaging. Since 2019 Dr Crawford has been a post-doctoral research fellow in Professor Mehdi Mobli's group. His current research uses recombinant protein production technologies to produce bioactive disulfide-rich peptides that are used to probe structure-function relationships of peptide bivalency, enzyme modulation, and pain-associated ion channel modulation. Dr Crawford's research utilises nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to determine peptide structure, molecular interactions, molecular dynamics, and monitor enzyme reactions. Additionally, Dr Crawford is involved in the development of novel cyclised nanodisc membrane mimetics that can be used to study membrane proteins and peptide-membrane interactions.
Industry
Dr Crawford currently collaborates with French Biotechnology company Synthelis, developing novel membrane mimetic technology for the study of membrane-associated proteins. Dr Crawford has previously collaborated with Clarity Pharmaceuticals as part of an NHMRC Cooperative Research Centres Projects grant developing an in-house pipeline for molecular imaging agents.
Key Publications
Ramanujam V, Crawford T, Cristofori-Armstrong B, Deuis JR, Jia X, Maxwell MJ, Jami S, Ma L, Vetter I, Mobli M. Structural Basis of the Bivalency of the TRPV1 Agonist DkTx. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2024 Jan 15;63(3):e202314621. doi: 10.1002/anie.202314621. Epub 2023 Dec 12.
Jami S, Deuis JR, Klasfauseweh T, Cheng X, Kurdyukov S, Chung F, Okorokov AL, Li S, Zhang J, Cristofori-Armstrong B, Israel MR, Ju RJ, Robinson SD, Zhao P, Ragnarsson L, Andersson Å, Tran P, Schendel V, McMahon KL, Tran HNT, Chin YK, Zhu Y, Liu J, Crawford T, Purushothamvasan S, Habib AM, Andersson DA, Rash LD, Wood JN, Zhao J, Stehbens SJ, Mobli M, Leffler A, Jiang D, Cox JJ, Waxman SG, Dib-Hajj SD, Neely GG, Durek T, Vetter I. Pain-causing stinging nettle toxins target TMEM233 to modulate NaV1.7 function. Nat Commun. 2023 Apr 28;14(1):2442. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-37963-2
Maxwell MJ, Thekkedam C, Lamboley C, Chin YK, Crawford T, Smith JJ, Liu J, Jia X, Vetter I, Laver DR, Launikonis BS, Dulhunty A, Undheim EAB, Mobli M. A bivalent remipede toxin promotes calcium release via ryanodine receptor activation. Nat Commun. 2023 Feb 23;14(1):1036. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-36579-w.
Jia X, Chin YK, Zhang AH, Crawford T, Zhu Y, Fletcher NL, Zhou Z, Hamilton BR, Stroet M, Thurecht KJ, Mobli M. Self-cyclisation as a general and efficient platform for peptide and protein macrocyclisation. Commun Chem. 2023 Mar 4;6(1):48. doi: 10.1038/s42004-023-00841-5.
Crawford T, Fletcher N, Veitch M, Gonzalez Cruz JL, Pett N, Brereton I, Wells JW, Mobli M, Tesiram Y. Bacillus anthracis Protective Antigen Shows High Specificity for a UV Induced Mouse Model of Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Front Med (Lausanne). 2019 Feb 12;6:22. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2019.00022.