Development of New Reagents for Protein Chemistry

这个多学科项目将处于化学和生物科学的交界处，并将最先进的合成有机化学与生化、分析和生物物理方法相结合。该项目将侧重于开发用于多肽和蛋白质受控化学修饰的新型生物兼容试剂和方法，并使用这些方法通过生化/生物物理分析来研究关键蛋白质翻译后修饰(PTM)的性质和功能。我们特别感兴趣的是一系列由细胞氧化应激引起的PTM，目前无法使用传统技术进行研究。从长远来看，新的试剂和方法将为研究这些PTM在人类生物学中迄今难以捉摸的功能带来令人兴奋的机会，并可能在药物发现和治疗由未调控的细胞氧化还原事件引起的疾病方面产生影响。

This multidisciplinary project will be at the interface of the chemical and biological sciences, and will combine state-of-the-art synthetic organic chemistry with biochemical, analytical and biophysical methods. The project will focus on the development of novel biocompatible reagents and methodologies for the controlled chemical modification of peptides and proteins, and employ these methodologies to study the properties and function of key protein post-translational modifications (PTMs) using biochemical/biophysical assays. We are particularly interested in a range of PTMs resulting from cellular oxidative stress, which are currently impossible to study using conventional techniques. On the longer term, the new reagents and methods will unlock exciting opportunities for studying the so far elusive function of these PTMs in human biology, with potential implications in drug discovery and the treatment of diseases resulting from unregulated cellular redox events.