Isabelle Pickles

Postdoctoral Research Associate

Isabelle is a postdoctoral research associate in the lab of Professor Gideon Davies at York Structural Biology Laboratory. She uses chemical and structural biology to investigate carbohydrate-degrading enzymes, both in the context of polysaccharide-degrading enzymes for industrial applications and in human health. Current projects include using activity-based probes to investigate starch (and other complex carbohydrates) degradation by various bacterial enzymes in the human gut. In 2024, Isabelle was part of the team which was awarded the RSC Chemistry Biology Interface Horizon Prize for developing an understanding of sulfosugar metabolism and the discovery of new enzymes and pathways of sulfur recycling.

Isabelle moved to the University of York after completing a PhD at the University of Leeds under the supervision of Prof Robin Bon. At Leeds, she designed and developed chemical tools to study TRPC1/4/5 ion channels and their roles in human health and disease. In 2017, Isabelle graduated from Durham University with a MChem in Chemistry.

Selected Publications:

Isabelle B. Pickles,* Thamy L.R. Corrêa, Herman S. Overkleeft, Gideon J. Davies*, Activity-based probes for dynamic characterisation of polysaccharide-degrading enzymes, Biochemical Journal, 2025, 482, 939. (* corresponding authors) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1042/BCJ20253060
Isabelle B. Pickles, Yurong Chen, Olga Moroz, Haley A. Brown, Casper de Boer, Zachary Armstrong, Nicholas G. S. McGregor, Marta Artola, Jeroen D. C. Codée, Nicole M. Koropatkin, Herman S. Overkleeft, Gideon J. Davies, Precision activity-based α-amylase probes for dissection and annotation of linear and branched-chain starch degrading enzymes, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2025, 64, e202415219. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202415219
Gijs Ruijgrok, Wendy A. Offen, Isabelle B. Pickles, Deepa Raju, Thanasis Patsos, Casper de Boer, Tim Ofman, Joep Rompa, Daan van Oord, Eleanor J. Dodson, Alexander Beekers, Thijs Voskuilen, Michela Ferrari, Liang Wu, Antonius P. A. Janssen, Jeroen D. C. Codée, P. Lynne Howell, Gideon J. Davies, Herman S. Overkleeft, Bespoke Activity-Based Probes Reveal that the Pseudomonas aeruginosa Endoglycosidase, PslG, Is an Endo-β-glucanase, JACS, 2025, 147, 8578. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.4c16806
Zirui Li,‡ Isabelle Pickles,‡ Mahima Sharma,‡ Benjamin Melling, Luise Pallasdies, Jeroen Codée, Spencer Williams, Herman Overkleeft, Gideon Davies, Detection of sulfoquinovosidase activity in cell lysates using activity-based probes, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2024, 63, e202401358. (‡ these authors contributed equally). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202401358
Arashdeep Kaur, Isabelle B. Pickles, Mahima Sharma, Niccolay Madiedo Soler, Nichollas E. Scott, Sacha J. Pidot, Ethan D. Goddard-Borger, Gideon J. Davies, Spencer J. Williams, Widespread Family of NAD+-Dependent Sulfoquinovosidases at the Gateway to Sulfoquinovose Catabolism, JACS, 2023, 145, 28216. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.3c11126
Alireza Baradaran-Heravi, Claudia C. Bauer, Isabelle B. Pickles, Sara Hosseini-Farahabadi, Aruna D. Balgi, Kunho Choi, Deborah M. Linley, David J. Beech, Michel Roberge, Robin S. Bon, Nonselective TRPC channel inhibition and suppression of aminoglycoside-induced premature termination codon readthrough by the small molecule AC1903, Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2022, 298, 101546. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2021.101546
Claudia C. Bauer,‡ Aisling Minard,‡ Isabelle B. Pickles,‡ Katie J. Simmons, Eulashini Chuntharpursat-Bon, Matthew P. Burnham, Nikil Kapur, David J. Beech, Stephen P. Muench, Megan H. Wright, Stuart L. Warriner and Robin S. Bon, Xanthine-based photoaffinity probes allow assessment of ligand engagement by TRPC5 channels, RSC Chemical Biology, 2020, 1, 436-448. (‡ these authors contributed equally). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D0CB00126K