David DrewProfessor of Biochemistry

Structure and Mechanism of Solute Carrier (SLC) Transporters

SLC transporters are the targets for many therapeutics and they often play a major role in drug pharmacokinetics. Understanding the mechanisms by which SLC transporters shuttle and move ions, drugs, and natural compounds across membranes is of fundamental importance. Because of the technical difficulties in working with membrane proteins our mechanistic understanding is very limited. The goal of my research is to investigate the alternating-access mechanism of solute transporters for sugars and ions, which are critical to cell homeostasis and their dysfunction is associated with human diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. To achieve this we combine crystal and cryo EM structures with biochemical and biophysical techniques. These goals are facilitated by the development of novel methods to aid functional and structural investigation of SLC transporters.

Popular descriptions of our work on transporters 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwW86e3tFv4

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00148-8

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03154-8

 

Current group members

Magnus Claesson, Lab Manager

Ashutosh Gulati, Postdoc

Ved Mehta, Postdoc

Albert Suades, Postdoc

Hang Li, Postdoc

Jakob Silberberg, Postdoc

Jianan Chen, Postdoc

Sukkyeong Jung, PhD Student

Surabhi Kokane, PhD Student

 

Selected Publications 

Gulati A, Ahn D, Suades A, Hult Y, Wolf G, Iwata S, Superit-Furgi G, Nomura N, Drew D (2025). Step-wise translocation of ATP into the ER. Nature in press. 

Drew D, Boudker O. (2024). Ion and Lipid Orchestration of Secondary Active Transport. Nature 626: 963-974

Yeo H, Mehta V, Gulati A, Drew D. (2023). Structure and mechanism of a voltage-gated Na+/H+ exchanger. Nature 623: 193-201.

Qureshi A, Suades A, … , Delemotte L, Drew D (2020). The molecular basis for sugar import in malaria parasites. Nature 578:321-25.  

Gupta G, Donlan J.A, Hopper J, Uzdavinys P, Landreh M, Struwe W, Drew D, Baldwin A, Stansfield P, Robinson C.V (2017). The role of interfacial lipids in stabilising membrane protein oligomers. Nature. 541:421-424

Nomura N, Verdon G, Kang HJ, … , Drew D (2015). Structure and mechanism of the mammalian fructose transporter GLUT5. Nature. 526:397-401.

Lee C, Kang HJ, … , Cameron A, Drew D (2013). A two-domain elevator mechanism for sodium/proton antiport. Nature. 501:573-7. 

Hu NJ, Iwata S, Cameron A, Drew D (2011). Crystal structure of a bacterial homologue of the bile acid sodium symporter ASBT. Nature. 478:408-11. 

 

Commentaries and Reviews

Drew D (2022). Structures show how salt gets a sweet ride. Nature 601, 194-196.

Drew D, North R, Nagarathinam K, Tanabe K (2021). Structures and general transport mechanisms by the major facilitator superfamily. Chemical Reviews. 121:5289–335.

Drew D, Boudker O (2016). Shared Molecular Mechanisms of Membrane Transporters Annual Reviews in Biochemistry. 85:543-72.

 

Funding Sources