THE Research

An understanding of the way proteins, enzymes, or receptors interact with small molecules is integral to the process of drug design. The vast majority of drugs bind to such macromolecules initiating a biological response. In order for a compound to be considered an efficient drug, the molecule must bind to the protein well, or, with high binding affinity. Research in the Bioactive Molecules laboratory, is focused on the design and synthesis of small molecules that exhibit high affinities and specificities for selected macromolecules using laboratory techniques relevant to synthetic organic chemistry.

» SELECT a biologically relevant target protein or enzyme.

» DESIGN a library of potential ligands with a common structural core.

» DEVELOP and optimize an efficient synthetic route to access multiple compounds.

» INVESTIGATE ligand binding affinity and examine structural variation in protein-ligand interactions.