Peptide Natural Product Synthesis and Medicinal Chemistry
Peptide natural products represent a diverse class of secondary metabolites with vast (and possibly useful) bioactivities. We are utilising developing innovative methods for the total synthesis of bioactive peptide natural products, generating libraries of analogues, and using chemical biology approachees to uncover unknown mechanisms of action. We are particularly focussed on targetting causative agents of neglected infectious diseases such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Protein Chemistry and Last-Stage Modification
Post-translational modifications of proteins play a critical role in structure and function, however their enzymatic installation results in heterogenous mixtures. This makes understanding the functional consequence of a given modification on the protein difficult to unpick. We are utilising and developing methods for the site-selective modification of proteins to mechanistically probe structure and function, and generate homogenously modified proteins for biotechnology applications.
Chemical Biology of Sugars
Carbohydrates mediate many essential biological roles, and their importance in signalling, immunology, and disease is becoming increasingly understood. We are developing methods to understand how carbohydrate structure impacts function, and methods to disocver and modulate carbohydrate/protein interactions in biological systems.