Project summary
The aim of this research project is to combine the expertise, techniques and tools of the three research laboratories of Heinis (EPFL, Switzerland), Keserű (HUN-REN, Hungary) and Bencze (BBU, Romania) to jointly address the challenge of druggability of important protein-protein interaction (PPI) targets needed for the development of drugs for unmet medical needs.
The Heinis lab has recently established methods to synthesize and screen tens of thousands of membrane-permeable small cyclic peptides, Keserű's lab has a long history of drug development and medicinal chemistry, and extensive experience with the two PPI oncology targets KRas and STAT, while similarly, the Bencze group has established assays for two bacterial PPI targets.
The project combines the cyclic peptide libraries and methods to generate new ones (Heinis lab) with know-how and HTS assays for the two oncological PPI targets KRas and STAT (Keserű lab) and the two bacterial PPI targets YejM-LapB and DprE1-DprE2 (Bencze lab).
