Professor Mathew Horrocks

Professor of Biophysics

Biography

Background

Mathew was born and brought up in Halifax, West Yorkshire, before studying Chemistry at Oriel College, University of Oxford. He did his Master's project with Professor Mark Wallace, where he was first introduced to single-molecule techniques. Following this, he moved to the University of Cambridge to work with Professor David Klenerman, developing microscopy techniques to study the protein aggregates formed in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. 

Following a brief stint researching in New South Wales, Australia, Mathew returned to Cambridge in 2016 to take up a Junior Research Fellowship at Christ’s College, and a Herchel Smith Fellowship at the University of Cambridge. He moved to the University of Edinburgh to head the ESMB Group in January 2018. He became Senior Lecturer in 2022, and was promoted to Professor in 2024.

When not in the lab, Mathew enjoys competing in triathlons, and has completed an Ironman in Weymouth (2016).

Qualifications

PhD (University of Cambridge, 2014)

M.Chem (University of Oxford, 2010)

Research summary

The Edinburgh Single-Molecule Biophysics Group is based within the School of Chemistry, and the Chemistry Hub at the newly built Institute for Regeneration and Repair at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. At our core, we are passionate about unraveling the mysteries of biology using advanced imaging techniques. We specialise in single-molecule and super-resolution imaging, employing these powerful tools to delve into the intricate complexities of biology, with a focus on neuroscience and neurodegenerative disorders. 

For more information, visit http://www.horrockslab.org/research.

 

 

Current research interests

Neuroscience, Neurodegenerative diseases, Cardiovascular diseases, Super-resolution microscopy, Single-molecule biophysics.

 

  1. Sequential replacement of PSD95 subunits in postsynaptic supercomplexes is slowest in the cortex. Morris, K., Bulovaite, E., Kaizuka, T., Schnorrenberg, S., Adams, C., Komiyama, N., Mendive-Tapia, L., Grant, S. G. N., Horrocks, M. H.eLife, Reviewed Preprint, 2024. http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.99303.1
  1. Astrocytes modulate Aquaporin-4 array size in response to adrenergic signaling and osmolarity changes. Zepernick, A., Metodieva, V., Pelegrina-Hidalgo, N., Lippert, A.H., Horrocks, M.H., Varela, J.A. Nanoscale, 16, 9576-9582, 2024. http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/d4nr00330f
  1. RNA aptamer reveals nuclear TDP-43 pathology is an early aggregation event that coincides with STMN-2 cryptic splicing and precedes clinical manifestation in ALS. Spence, H., Waldron, F. M., Saleeb, R. S., Brown, A.-L., Rifai, O. M., Gilodi, M., Read, F., Roberts, K., Milne, G., Wilkinson, D., O'Shaughnessy, J., Pastore, A., Fratta, P., Shneider, N., Tartaglia, G. G., Zacco, E., Horrocks, M. H., Gregory, J. M. Acta Neuropathologica, 147, 50, 2024. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00401-024-02705-1
  1. Two-Color Coincidence Single-Molecule Pull-down for the Specific Detection of Disease-Associated Protein Aggregates Saleeb, R.S., Leighton, C., Lee, J., O'Shaughnessy, J., Jeacock, K., Chappard, A., Cumberland, R., Zhao, T., Ball, S.R., Sunde, M., Clarke, D.J., Piche, K., McPhail, J.A., Louwrier, A., Angers, R., Gandhi, S., Downey, P., Kunath, T., Horrocks, M.H. Science Advances, 9, eadi7359, 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adi7359
  1. Imaging Proteins Sensitive to Direct Fusions Using Transient Peptide-Peptide Interactions. Gidden, Z., Oi, C., Johnston, E.J., Konieczna, Z., Bhaskar, H., Mendive-Tapia, L., de Moliner, F., Rosser, S.J., Mochrie, S. G. J., Vendrell, M., Horrocks, M. H., Regan, L. ACS Nano Letters, 23, 22, 10633-10641, 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c03780

 

 

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