PhD Studentship: Probing the Activity of Umami Receptors Using On-cell Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Primary supervisor - Dr Matthew Wallace

This four-year funded PhD studentship is available in the School of Chemistry, Pharmacy and Pharmacology at UEA, in collaboration with PepsiCo as part of the BBSRC Food Consortium Collaborative Training Partnership.

Umami or ‘savory’ is one of the five basic food tastes, the others being salty, sweet, bitter and sour. Monosodium glutamate is the prototypical compound known to elicit the umami taste in humans. However, a desire to lower the sodium content of foods coupled with adverse consumer perceptions of this compound has led to the search for alternatives. Short peptides, typically 2-4 amino acids long, have emerged as a promising new class of compounds along with oligonucleotides (1). However, the incredible chemical diversity available (>230,000 tetrapeptides possible from the 22 natural amino acids alone, with further synthetic modifications possible) means that it is imperative that we can predict and study in vitro which compounds are likely to be effective Umami additives to avoid the synthesis and human testing of ineffective compounds.

Key to the Umami taste are the protein receptors T1R1/T1R3 to which a compound must bind to elicit a response. However, as membrane-bound proteins, these receptors are extremely challenging to study using conventional analytical approaches. In this project, you will apply cutting-edge nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques developed at UEA to study the interaction of small molecules with Umami receptors overexpressed directly on the surface of live cells (2). You will thus establish ‘rules’ determining which molecular features enhance binding to the receptors. This information will be carried forward to human tasting panels. You will also investigate how other components of food matrices inhibit binding.

You will thus develop a strong and transferrable skillset in cell culture/protein expression, NMR spectroscopy, data analysis and food science. You will also have the opportunity to undertake a placement at PepsiCo.

Mode of study: Full-time

Entry requirements

The standard minimum entry requirement is 2:1 (Hons) in Chemistry, Pharmacy, Pharmacology or a related discipline.

Start date: 1 October 2025

Additional Funding Information

This is a fully funded PhD studentship which covers tuition fees at Home-fee rate and an annual maintenance stipend (starting at £22,480 in the first year) for four years.

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