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Peptide Dendrimers as Synthetic Artificial Proteins for Catalysis and Binding

English title	Peptide Dendrimers as Synthetic Artificial Proteins for Catalysis and Binding
Applicant	Reymond Jean-Louis
Number	116555
Funding scheme	Project funding (Div. I-III)
Research institution	Departement für Chemie, Biochemie und Pharmazie Universität Bern
Institution of higher education	University of Berne - BE
Main discipline	Organic Chemistry
Start/End	01.04.2007 - 31.03.2009
Approved amount	397'635.00

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Keywords (18)

peptides; enzyme models; dendrimers; combinatorial libraries; fluorescence assays; artificial proteins; glycopeptides; esterases; vitamin B12; drug delivery; pseudomonas aeruginosa; antibacterials; biofilms; combinatorial chemistry; catalysis; combinatoiral libraries; anticancer agent; vitamin-B12

Lay Summary (English)

Lead

Lay summary
De novo protein design is one of the most difficult and fascinating problems in chemistry. Our approach to this question is based on peptide dendrimers as synthetic artificial proteins. A combinatorial synthesis protocol allows us to prepare and test over 60'000 different peptide dendrimers in a single experiment, which has opened the door to peptide dendrimers with selective binding affinities to small molecules such as vitamin B12, and to proteins such as lectins using glycosylated dendrimers. The present research project is dedicated to the development of peptide dendrimers with diverse functions considering fundmental aspects of structural design as well as their biomedical applications. Ongoing projects concern molelcular dynamics studies of catalytic peptide dendrimers, the study of peptide dendrimers containing secondary structure elements, a study of vitamin B12-binding peptide dendrimers, an investigation of the proteolytic stability and immunogenicity of peptide dendrimers, and the development of glycopeptide dendrimers for drug delivery and as antimicrobial agents.

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Last update: 21.02.2013