Matthew Calthorpe-Byrne

Matt is a structural biologist with a background in protein structure and mechanism, spanning cryo-electron microscopy, X-ray crystallography, and molecular simulation. His research has explored virus architecture, plant and bacterial protein complexes, and enzymatic catalysis, with a particular interest in how structure underpins biological function. He has contributed to high-impact studies on protein-based insecticides, RNA polymerases, and natural product biosynthesis. More recently, his focus has expanded to include protein engineering and the use of computational tools to support drug discovery and molecular design.

Till, M., Robson, A., Byrne, M. J., Nair, A. V., Kolek, S. A., Stewart, P. D. S., Race, P. R. (2013) Improving the success rate of protein crystallization by random microseed matrix screening. J. Vis. Exp. 2013, (50548).

Byrne, M. J., Steele, J. F. C., Hesketh, E. L., Walden, M., Thompson, R. F., et al. (2019) Combining transient expression and cryo-EM to obtain high-resolution structures of luteovirid particles. Structure 2019, 27 (12), 1761–1770.e3.

Marsh, C. O., Lees, N. R., Han, L. C., Byrne, M. J., Mbatha, S. Z., Maschio, L., et al. (2019) A Natural Diels‐Alder Biocatalyst Enables Efficient [4+2] Cycloaddition Under Harsh Reaction Conditions. ChemCatChem 2019, 11 (20), 5027–5031.

Hesketh, E. L., Tiede, C., Adamson, H., Adams, T. L., Byrne, M. J., et al. (2019) Affimer reagents as tools in diagnosing plant virus diseases. Sci. Rep. 2019, 9 (1), 7524.

Lees, N. R., Han, L. C., Byrne, M. J., Davies, J. A., Parnell, A. E., Moreland, P. E. J., et al. (2019) An Esterase‐like Lyase Catalyzes Acetate Elimination in Spirotetronate/Spirotetramate Biosynthesis. Angew. Chem. 2019, 131 (8), 2327–2331.

Byrne, M. J., Nasir, N., Basmadjian, C., Bhatia, C., Cunnison, R. F., Carr, K. H., et al. (2020) Nek7 conformational flexibility and inhibitor binding probed through protein engineering of the R-spine. Biochem. J. 2020, 477 (8), 1525–1539.

Nair, A. V., Robson, A., Ackrill, T. D., Till, M., Byrne, M. J., et al. (2020) Structure and mechanism of a dehydratase/decarboxylase enzyme couple involved in polyketide β-methyl branch incorporation. Sci. Rep. 2020, 10 (1), 15323.

Byrne, M. J., Iadanza, M. G., Perez, M. A., Maskell, D. P., George, R. M., Hesketh, E. L., et al. (2021) Cryo-EM structures of an insecticidal Bt toxin reveal its mechanism of action on the membrane. Nat. Commun. 2021, 12 (1).

Byrne, M. J., Kashyap, A., Esquirol, L., Ranson, N., Sainsbury, F. (2021) The structure of a plant-specific partitivirus capsid reveals a unique coat protein domain architecture with an intrinsically disordered protrusion. Commun. Biol. 2021, 4 (1), 1155.

Thuenemann, E. C., Byrne, M. J., Peyret, H., Saunders, K., Castells-Graells, R., et al. (2021) A replicating viral vector greatly enhances accumulation of helical virus-like particles in plants. Viruses 2021, 13 (5), 885.

Chase, O., Javed, A., Byrne, M. J., Thuenemann, E. C., Lomonossoff, G. P., et al. (2023) CryoEM and stability analysis of virus-like particles of potyvirus and ipomovirus infecting a common host. Commun. Biol. 2023, 6 (1), 433.

Vergara-Cruces, Á., Pramanick, I., Pearce, D., Vogirala, V. K., Byrne, M. J., et al. (2024) Structure of the plant plastid-encoded RNA polymerase. Cell 2024, 187 (5), 1145–1159.e21.

Passchier, T. C., White, J. B. R., Maskell, D. P., Byrne, M. J., Ranson, N. A., et al. (2024) The cryoEM structure of the Hendra henipavirus nucleoprotein reveals insights into paramyxoviral nucleocapsid architectures. Sci. Rep. 2024, 14 (1), 14099.

Dreyer, F. A., Schneider, C., Kovaltsuk, A., Cutting, D., Byrne, M. J., Nissley, D. A., et al. (2024) Computational design of developable therapeutic antibodies: efficient traversal of binder landscapes and rescue of escape mutations. bioRxiv 2024, DOI: 10.1101/2024.10.03.616038.

Koziej, L., Fatehi, F., Aleksejczuk, M., Byrne, M. J., Heddle, J. G., Twarock, R., et al. (2025) Dynamic assembly of pentamer-based protein nanotubes. ACS Nano 2025, 19 (9), 8786–8798.