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P-L Chau

Dr P-L Chau

Dr P-L Chau

Permanent staff scientist, Institut Pasteur Paris

Visitor in Prof Payne's group

Office: 516 Mott Bld
Phone: +44(0)1223 3 37238
Email: pc104cantab@gmail.com

TCM Group, Cavendish Laboratory
19 JJ Thomson Avenue,
Cambridge, CB3 0HE UK.

Research

My current and future research aims to understand how general anaesthetics exert their effects.

Whilst the mechanism of action of most drugs has been defined, that of general anaesthetics has remained unknown since its appearance in 1842. Indeed, general anaesthesia is probably the last great puzzle of pharmacology. Previous work by others has established that the target of most general anaesthetics is probably the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) type A receptor in that part of the brain responsible for determining the sleep-wakefulness state. My work thus aims to determine the structure and function of this receptor, and define the effect of general anaesthetics on this protein.

Determining the mechanism of action of general anaesthetics will have important consequences for pharmacology and, more generally, medicine. It will allow us to develop better targeted general anaesthetics and potentially reduce the risk of negative side-effects.

Featured Publications

  • P.-L. Chau (2010) New insights into the molecular mechanisms of general anaesthetics, British Journal of Pharmacology, 161, 288-307.
  • C. Várnai, B.W.J. Irwin, M.C. Payne, G. Csányi and P.-L. Chau (2020) Functional movements of the GABA type A receptor, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, 22, 16023-16031.
  • P.-L. Chau (2021), Simulations of general anaesthetics in membranes at raised pressures : the search for mechanisms for pressure reversal of general anaesthetics, Molecular Simulation, 47, 91-100.
  • B.W.J. Irwin, C.C. Wanjura, D. Molnar, M.J. Rutter, M.C. Payne and P.-L. Chau (2022), GABA receptor associated protein changes the electrostatic environment around the GABA type A receptor, Proteins: Structure, Function and Bioinformatics, 90, 476-484.
  • A.J. Davolio, W.J. Jankowski, C. Várnai, B.W.J. Irwin, M.C. Payne and P.-L. Chau (2023) Efficiently differentiating agonists and competitive antagonists for weak allosteric protein-ligand interactions with linear response theory, ACS Omega, 8, 44537-44544.