Andrew Thomson’s major research interests throughout his career at UEA as founder Director of the Centre for Metalloprotein Spectroscopy and Biology, (CMSB) have been in the application of optical and magnetic methods to analyse the structures and functions of transition metal centres in proteins. Magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy as well as novel optical-microwave double resonance techniques have been developed. The systems studied include enzymes of the bacterial denitrification pathway that contain hemoproteins, iron-sulfur and multi-copper clusters as well terminal heme-copper oxidases. proteins of iron uptake and storage pathways and proteins that utilise iron sulphur clusters to regulate gene expression. In 2005 Andrew Thomson established the Henry Wellcome Unit for Biological EPR Spectroscopy (Director Dr Fraser MacMillan) at UEA utilizing multi-frequency (9 and 95 GHz) and time domain EPR to map membrane metalloproteins using site directed spin labelling.

Early in his career after completing his PhD degree with RJP Williams in Oxford Andrew Thomson worked in the laboratory of B Rosenberg, between 1965-67, on the effect of platinum salts on bacterial growth processes. He was the first to show that the cis isomer of dichlorodiammineplatinum(II) (cisPlatin) was the effective biological agent in inhibiting cell divsion in E.coli. This led ultimatley to its clinical use as a highly effective chemotherapeutic agent against several cancers particularly testicular cancer.

Crack, J., Hutchings, M., Thomson, A., Le Brun, N.(2016)Biochemical properties of Paracoccus denitrificans FnrP: Reactions with molecular oxygen and nitric oxidein JBIC Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry21.pp. 71-82 Full Text UEA Repository(Article) Crack, J., Svistunenko, D. A., Munnoch, J., Thomson, A., Hutchings, M., Le Brun, N.(2016)Differentiated, promoter-specific response of [4Fe-4S] NsrR DNA-binding to reaction with nitric oxidein Journal of Biological Chemistry291.pp. 8663-8672 Full Text UEA Repository(Article) Crack, J., Munnoch, J. T., Dodd, E., Knowles, F., Al-Bassam, M., Kamali, S., Holland, A., Cramer, S., Hamilton, C., Johnson, M., Thomson, A., Hutchings, M., Le Brun, N.(2015)NsrR from Streptomyces coelicolor Is a Nitric Oxide-sensing [4Fe-4S] Cluster Protein with a Specialized Regulatory Functionin The Journal of Biological Chemistry290.pp. 12689-12704 Full Text UEA Repository(Article) Ibrahim, S. A., Crack, J. C., Rolfe, M. D., Borrero-de Acuňa, J. M., Thomson, A. J., Le Brun, N. E., Schobert, M., Stapleton, M. R., Green, J.(2015)Three Pseudomonas putida FNR Family Proteins with Different Sensitivities to O2in The Journal of Biological Chemistry290.pp. 16812-16823 Full Text UEA Repository(Article) Crack, J. C., Green, J., Thomson, A. J., Le Brun, N. E.(2014)Techniques for the production, isolation, and analysis of iron-sulfur proteinsin Methods in Molecular Biology1122.pp. 33-48 Full Text UEA Repository(Article) Crack, J. C., Stapleton, M. R., Green, J., Thomson, A. J., Le Brun, N. E.(2014)Influence of association state and DNA binding on the O2-reactivity of [4Fe-4S] fumarate and nitrate reduction (FNR) regulatorin Biochemical Journal463.pp. 83-92 Full Text UEA Repository(Article) Van Wonderen, J., McMahon, R., OMara, M., McDevitt, C., Thomson, A., Kerr, I., MacMillan, F., Callaghan, R.(2014)The central cavity of ABCB1 undergoes alternating access during ATP hydrolysisin FEBS Journal281.pp. 2190-2201 Full Text UEA Repository(Article) Crack, J. C., Green, J., Thomson, A. J., Le Brun, N. E.(2014)Iron-sulfur clusters as biological sensors: the chemistry of reactions with molecular oxygen and nitric oxidein Accounts of Chemical Research47.pp. 3196-205 Full Text UEA Repository(Article) Van Wonderen, J. H., Oganesyan, V. S., Watmough, N. J., Richardson, D. J., Thomson, A. J., Cheesman, M. R.(2013)Unexpected weak magnetic exchange coupling between haem and non-haem iron in the catalytic site of nitric oxide reductase (NorBC) from Paracoccus denitrificans.in Biochemical Journal451.pp. 389-394 Full Text UEA Repository(Article) Crack, J. C., Stapleton, M. R., Green, J., Thomson, A. J., Le Brun, N. E.(2013)Mechanism of [4Fe-4S](Cys)4 cluster nitrosylation is conserved among NO-responsive regulatorsin The Journal of Biological Chemistry288.pp. 11492-502 Full Text UEA Repository(Article) Crack, J., Green, J., Hutchings, M., Thomson, A., Le Brun, N.(2012)Bacterial iron-sulfur regulatory proteins as biological sensor-switchesin Antioxidants & Redox Signaling17.pp. 1215-1231 Full Text UEA Repository(Article) Crack, J., Green, J., Thomson, A., Le Brun, N.(2012)Iron–sulfur sensor-regulatorsin Current Opinion in Chemical Biology16.pp. 35-44 Full Text UEA Repository(Article) Zhang, B., Crack, J., Subramanian, S., Green, J., Thomson, A., Le Brun, N., Johnson, M.(2012)Reversible cycling between cysteine persulfide-ligated [2Fe-2S] and cysteine-ligated [4Fe-4S] clusters in the FNR regulatory proteinin Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences109.pp. 15734-15739 Full Text UEA Repository(Article) Zhang, B., Crack, J., Subramanian, S., Green, J., Thomson, A., Le Brun, N., Johnson, M.(2012)Reversible cycling between partially cysteine persulfide-ligated [2Fe-2S] clusters and cysteine ligated [4Fe-4S] clusters in FNRin Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America109.pp. 15734-15739 UEA Repository(Article) Thomson, A. J., Giannopoulos, G., Pretty, J., Baggs, E. M., Richardson, D. J.(2012)Biological sources and sinks of nitrous oxide and strategies to mitigate emissionsin Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences367.pp. 1157-1168 Full Text UEA Repository(Article) Crack, J., Smith, L., Stapleton, M., Peck, J., Watmough, N., Buttner, M., Buxton, R., Green, J., Oganesyan, V., Thomson, A., Le Brun, N.(2011)Mechanistic Insight into the Nitrosylation of the [4Fe−4S] Cluster of WhiB-like Proteinsin Journal of the American Chemical Society133.pp. 1112-1121 Full Text UEA Repository(Article) Smith, L. J., Stapleton, M. R., Fullstone, G. J. M., Crack, J., Thomson, A. J., Le Brun, N., Hunt, D. M., Harvey, E., Adinolfi, S., Buxton, R. S., Green, J.(2010)Mycobacterium tuberculosisWhiB1 is an essential DNA-binding protein with a nitric oxide-sensitive iron–sulfur clusterin Biochemical Journal432.pp. 417-427 Full Text UEA Repository(Article) Oganesyan, V., White, G., Field, S., Marritt, S., Gennis, R. B., Yap, L. L., Thomson, A. J.(2010)Nitroxide spin labels as EPR reporters of the relaxation and magnetic properties of the heme–copper site in cytochrome bo 3, E. coliin JBIC Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry15.pp. 1255-1264 Full Text UEA Repository(Article) Smith, L., Stapleton, M., Fullstone, G., Crack, J., Thomson, A., Le Brun, N., Hunt, D., Harvey, E., Adinolfi, S., Buxton, R., Green, J.(2010)Mycobacterium tuberculosis WhiB1 is an essential DNA-binding protein with a nitric oxide sensitive iron-sulphur clusterin Biochemistry Journal432.pp. 417-427 UEA Repository(Article) Crack, J., den Hengst, C. D., Jakimowicz, P., Subramanian, S., Johnson, M. K., Buttner, M. J., Thomson, A. J., Le Brun, N.(2009)Characterization of [4Fe-4S]-Containing and Cluster-Free Forms ofStreptomycesWhiDin Biochemistry48.pp. 12252-12264 Full Text UEA Repository(Article)