Vicky studied Chemistry at Oxford University and then stayed on to do a DPhil in protein NMR with Prof Christina Redfield and Dr Lorna Smith, focussing on the use of Residual Dipolar Couplings (RDCs) measured on folded and unfolded proteins. This was followed by two years of post-doctoral work with Prof Tony Day in the MRC Immunochemistry Unit at Oxford where she carried out NMR studies on the oliosaccharide binding protein TSG-6 and also determined a crystal structure in collaboration with Prof Martin Noble. Vicky then went to Berlin to join the group of Prof Hartmut Oschkinat during which time she switched from some initial solution NMR work to solid-state protein NMR, working predominantly on the large beta-barrel porin, OmpG. After a further couple of years of solid-state NMR work on bacteriorhodopsin with Prof Tony Watts in Oxford, Vicky moved to Matt’s group. Here she is involved in a number of collaborative projects, mostly involving protein structure determination by solution NMR.
Website
Vicky has set up her own website describing some of the basics of Protein NMR at www.protein-nmr.org.uk.
Publications
2015
(29) 13C- and 1H-detection under fast MAS for the study of poorly available proteins: application to sub-milligram quantities of a 7 trans-membrane protein
Dannatt, HRW, Taylor, GF, Varga, K, Higman, VA, Pfeil, M-P, Asilmovska, L, Judge, PJ, Watts, A (2015) J Biomol NMR, available online
2014
(28) Rapid proton-detected NMR assignment for proteins with fast magic angle spinning
Barbet-Massin, E, Pell, AJ, Retel, JS, Andreas, LB, Jaudzems, K, Franks, WT, Nieuwkoop, AJ, Hiller, M, Higman, VA, Guerry, P, Bertarello, A, Knight, MJ, Felletti, M, Le Marchand, T, Kotelovica, S, Akopjana, I, Tars, K, Stoppini, M, Bellotti, V, Bolognesi, M, Ricagno, S, Chou, JJ, Griffin, RG, Oschkinat, H, Lesage, A, Emsley, L, Herrmann, T & Pintacuda, G (2014) Journal of the American Chemical Society. 136, 12489-12497.
(27) The HicA toxin from Burkholderia pseudomallei has a role in persister cell formation
Butt, A, Higman, VA, Williams, C, Crump, MP, Hemsley, CM, Harmer, N & Titball, RW (2014) Biochemical Journal.
(26) A Refined Model for the TSG-6 Link Module in Complex with Hyaluronan: Use of defined oligosaccharides to probe structure and function
Higman, VA, Briggs, D, Mahoney, D, Blundell, C, Sattelle, B, Dyer, D, Green, D, DeAngelis, P, Almond, A, Milner, C & Day, AJ (2014) Journal of Biological Chemistry. 289, 5619-5634.
2013
(25) Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Methods for Studying Soluble, Fibrous, and Membrane-Embedded Proteins
Higman, VA (2013) Proteins in Solution and at Interfaces: Methods and Applications in Biotechnology and Materials Science. Ruso, J & Pineiro, A (eds.). Wiley-Blackwell, p. 23-48 (Wiley Series on Surface and Interfacial Chemistry).
(24) Structural and biochemical characterization of Rv2140c, a phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein from Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Eulenburg, G, Higman, VA, Diehl, A, Wilmanns, M & Holton, S J (2013) FEBS Letters. 587, p. 2936–2942
2012
(23) Recent Developments in Biomolecular Solid-State NMR
Higman, VA & Watts, A (2012) Recent Developments in Biomolecular NMR. Clore, M & Potts, J (eds.). The Royal Society of Chemistry, p. 318-334 (RSC Biomolecular Series).
2011
(22) A software framework for analysing solid-state MAS NMR data
Stevens, TJ, Fogh, RH, Boucher, W, Higman, VA, Eisenmenger, F, Bardiaux, B, van Rossum, B-J, Oschkinat, H & Laue, ED (2011) Journal of Biomolecular NMR. 51, 4, p. 437-447 11 p.
(21) Three-dimensional deuterium-carbon correlation experiments for high-resolution solid-state MAS NMR spectroscopy of large proteins
Lalli, D., Schanda, P., Chowdhury, A., Retel, J., Hiller, M., Higman, V. A., Handel, L., Agarwal, V., Reif, B., van Rossum, B., Akbey, U. & Oschkinat, H. (2011) Journal of Biomolecular NMR. 51, 477-485.
(20) Structure Calculation from Unambiguous Long-Range Amide and Methyl H-1-H-1 Distance Restraints for a Microcrystalline Protein with MAS Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy
Linser, R., Bardiaux, B., Higman, V., Fink, U. & Reif, B. 20 Apr 2011 Journal of the American Chemical Society. 133, 15, p. 5905-5912 8 p.
(19) Residual dipolar couplings: are multiple independent alignments always possible?
Higman, V. A., Boyd, J., Smith, L. J. & Redfield, C. Jan 2011 Journal of Biomolecular NMR. 49, 1, p. 53-60 8 p.
(18) Proton-Detected Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy of Fibrillar and Membrane Proteins
Linser, R., Dasari, M., Hiller, M., Higman, V., Fink, U., del Amo, J-M. L., Markovic, S., Handel, L., Kessler, B., Schmieder, P., Oesterhelt, D., Oschkinat, H. & Reif, B. 2011 Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 50, 19, p. 4508-4512 5 p.
(17) The Conformation of Bacteriorhodopsin Loops in Purple Membranes Resolved by Solid-State MAS NMR Spectroscopy
Higman, V. A., Varga, K., Aslimovska, L., Judge, P. J., Sperling, L. J., Rienstra, C. M. & Watts, A. 2011 Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 50, 36, p. 8432-8435 4 p.
2010
(16) Solid-state NMR and SAXS studies provide a structural basis for the activation of alpha B-crystallin oligomers
Jehle, S., Rajagopal, P., Bardiaux, B., Markovic, S., Kuehne, R., Stout, J. R., Higman, V. A., Klevit, R. E., van Rossum, B-J. & Oschkinat, H. Sep 2010 Nature Structural & Molecular Biology. 17, 9, p. 1037-U1 7 p.
(15) A Novel Subtype of AP-1-binding Motif within the Palmitoylated trans-Golgi Network/Endosomal Accessory Protein Gadkin/gamma-BAR
Maritzen, T., Schmidt, M. R., Kukhtina, V., Higman, V. A., Strauss, H., Volkmer, R., Oschkinat, H., Dotti, C. G. & Haucke, V. 5 Feb 2010 Journal of Biological Chemistry. 285, 6, p. 4074-4086 13 p.
2009
(14) Regulation of endosomal membrane traffic by a Gadkin/AP-1/kinesin KIF5 complex
Schmidt, M. R., Maritzen, T., Kukhtina, V., Higman, V. A., Doglio, L., Barak, N. N., Strauss, H., Oschkinat, H., Dotti, C. G. & Haucke, V. 8 Sep 2009 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 106, 36, p. 15344-15349 6 p.
(13) Probing the urea dependence of residual structure in denatured human alpha-lactalbumin
Higman, V. A., Rosner, H. I., Ugolini, R., Greene, L. H., Redfield, C. & Smith, L. J. Sep 2009 Journal of Biomolecular NMR. 45, 1-2, p. 121-131 11 p.
(12) Assigning large proteins in the solid state: a MAS NMR resonance assignment strategy using selectively and extensively C-13-labelled proteins
Higman, V. A., Flinders, J., Hiller, M., Jehle, S., Markovic, S., Fiedler, S., van Rossum, B-J. & Oschkinat, H. Aug 2009 Journal of Biomolecular NMR. 44, 4, p. 245-260 16 p.
2008
(11) Structural diversity in the RGS domain and its interaction with heterotrimeric G protein alpha-subunits
Soundararajan, M., Willard, F. S., Kimple, A. J., Turnbull, A. P., Ball, L. J., Schoch, G. A., Gileadi, C., Fedorov, O. Y., Dowler, E. F., Higman, V. A., Hutsell, S. Q., Sundstrom, M., Doyle, D. A. & Siderovski, D. P. 29 Apr 2008 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 105, 17, p. 6457-6462 6 p.
(10) [2,3-C-13]-labeling of aromatic residues-getting a head start in the magic-angle-spinning NMR assignment of membrane proteins
Hiller, M., Higman, V. A., Jehle, S., van Rossum, B-J., Kuehlbrandt, W. & Oschkinat, H. 16 Jan 2008 Journal of the American Chemical Society. 130, 2, p. 408-+ 3 p.
2007
(9) Plasticity of the TSG-6 HA-binding loop and mobility in the TSG-6-HA complex revealed by NMR and X-ray crystallography
Higman, V. A., Blundell, C. D., Mahoney, D. J., Redfield, C., Noble, M. E. M. & Day, A. J. 17 Aug 2007 Journal of Molecular Biology. 371, 3, p. 669-684 16 p.
(8) Resonance assignment of the RGS domain of human RGS10
Fedorov, O. Y., Higman, V. A., Schmieder, P., Leidert, M., Diehl, A., Elkins, J., Soundararajan, M., Oschkinat, H. & Ball, L. J. Jun 2007 Journal of Biomolecular NMR. 38, 2, p. 191-191 1 p.
(7) Using molecular dynamics simulations to provide new insights into protein structure on the nanosecond timescale: Comparison with experimental data and biological inferences for the hyaluronan-binding link module of TSG-6
Almond, A., Blundell, C. D., Higman, V. A., MacKerell, A. D. & Day, A. J. 2007 Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation. 3, 1, p. 1-16 16 p.
2006
(6) His-384 allotypic variant of factor H associated with age-related macular degeneration has different heparin binding properties from the non-disease-associated form.
Clark, S. J., Higman, V. A., Mulloy, B., Perkins, S. J., Lea, S. M., Sim, R. B. & Day, A. J. 25 Aug 2006 Journal of Biological Chemistry. 281, 34, p. 24713-24720 8 p.
(5) Elucidation of conserved long-range interaction networks in proteins and their significance in determining protein topology
Higman, V. A. & Greene, L. H. 15 Aug 2006 In : Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications. 368, 2, p. 595-606 12 p.
(4) TSG-6: a pluripotent inflammatory mediator?
Milner, C. M., Higman, V. A. & Day, A. J. Jun 2006 In : Biochemical Society Transactions. 34, p. 446-450 5 p.
(3) NMR assignment of human RGS18
Higman, V. A., Leidert, M., Diehl, A., Elkins, J., Soundararajan, M., Oschkinat, H. & Ball, L. J. 2006 In : Journal of Biomolecular NMR. 36, p. 72-72 1 p.
2004
(2) Asparagine and glutamine side-chain conformation in solution and crystal: A comparison for hen egg-white lysozyme using residual dipolar couplings
Higman, V. A., Boyd, J., Smith, L. J. & Redfield, C. Nov 2004 In : Journal of Biomolecular NMR. 30, 3, p. 327-346 20 p.
2003
(1) Uncovering network systems within protein structures
Greene, L. H. & Higman, V. A. 5 Dec 2003 In : Journal of Molecular Biology. 334, 4, p. 781-791 11 p.