Prof Garry Taylor

Emeritus Professor

Email: glt2@st-andrews.ac.uk

Research areas

I retired from the University in 2020 and maintain an Emeritus position. From 2014-2019 I was Master and Deputy Principal, and for nine months in 2016 I was also acting Principal and Vice Chancellor. My research interests are now maintained through a University spinout company, Pneumagen, formed in 2016. This arose from having studied the structural biology of sialidases (or neuraminidases) for several decades. We engineered mutlivalent forms of carbohydrate-binding modules specific for sialic acid, a key component of the receptor used by the influenza virus, parainfluenza virus, some coronaviruses and pneumococci. In animal studies, these have shown protection against a variety of respiratory viruses, inclding influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus and SARS-CoV-2. The lead biologic, Neumifil, is currently undergoing Phase 2 clincial studies. The company's research group is based in my old research space in BSRC.

Selected publications

Open access

Development of a structural epitope mimic: an idiotypic approach to HCV vaccine design
Cowton, V. M., Owsianka, A. M., Fadda, V., Ortega-Prieto, A. M., Cole, S. J., Potter, J. A., Skelton, J. K., Jeffrey, N., Di Lorenzo, C., Dorner, M., Taylor, G. L. & Patel, A. H., 8 Jan 2021, In: npj Vaccines. 6, 10 p., 7.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access

Unravelling the specificity and mechanism of sialic acid recognition by the gut symbiont Ruminococcus gnavus
Owen, C. D., Tailford, L. E., Monaco, S., Šuligoj, T., Vaux, L., Lallement, R., Khedri, Z., Yu, H., Lecointe, K., Walshaw, J., Tribolo, S., Horrex, M., Bell, A., Chen, X., Taylor, G. L., Varki, A., Angulo, J. & Juge, N., 19 Dec 2017, In: Nature Communications. 8, p. 1-15 15 p., 2196.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access

PRIMA-1^Met suppresses colorectal cancer independent of p53 by targeting MEK
Lu, T., Zou, Y., Xu, G., Potter, J. A., Taylor, G. L., Duan, Q., Yang, Q., Xiong, H., Qiu, H., Ye, D., Zhang, P., Yu, S., Yuan, X., Zhu, F., Wang, Y. & Xiong, H., 27 Oct 2016, In: Oncotarget. 7, 50, p. 83017-83030 14 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access

Streptococcus pneumoniae NanC. Structural insights into the specificity and mechanism of a sialidase that produces a sialidase inhibitor
Owen, C. D., Lukacik, P., Potter, J. A., Sleator, O., Taylor, G. L. & Walsh, M. A., 13 Nov 2015, In: Journal of Biological Chemistry. 290, 46, p. 27736-27748 13 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access

Discovery of intramolecular trans-sialidases in human gut microbiota suggests novel mechanisms of mucosal adaptation
Tailford, L. E., Owen, C. D., Walshaw, J., Crost, E. H., Hardy-Goddard, J., Le Gall, G., de Vos, W. M., Taylor, G. L. & Juge, N., 8 Jul 2015, In: Nature Communications. 6, 12 p., 7624.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Immunomodulatory Compounds
Taylor, G. L. (Inventor) & Connaris, H. (Inventor), 30 Jul 2015, IPC No. A61K31/74, Patent No. WO2015110831 (A1)
Research output: Patent
Open access

Sialic acid-binding protein Sp2CBMTD protects mice against lethal challenge with emerging influenza A (H7N9) virus
Govorkova, E. A., Baranovich, T., Marathe, B. M., Yang, L., Taylor, M. A., Webster, R. G., Taylor, G. L. & Connaris, H., Mar 2015, In: Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 59, 3, p. 1495-1504 10 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open access

Structural characterization of the carbohydrate-binding module of NanA sialidase, a pneumococcal virulence factor
Yang, L., Connaris, H., Potter, J. A. & Taylor, G. L., 20 Aug 2015, In: BMC Structural Biology. 15, 10 p., 15.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Prevention of influenza by targeting host receptors using engineered proteins
Connaris, H., Govorkova, E. A., Ligertwood, Y., Dutia, B. M., Yang, L., Tauber, S., Taylor, M. A., Alias, N., Hagan, R., Nash, A. A., Webster, R. G. & Taylor, G. L., 29 Apr 2014, In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 111, 17, p. 6401-6406
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Kinetic and structural evaluation of selected active site mutants of the Aspergillus fumigatus KDNase (sialidase)
Yeung, J. H. F., Telford, J. C., Shidmoossavee, F. S., Bennet, A. J., Taylor, G. L. & Moore, M. M., 23 Dec 2013, In: Biochemistry. 52, 51, p. 9177-86 10 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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