Mimicry of Protein Structures and Interactions with Unnatural Amino Acids

Speaker: Professor James Nowick, Ph.D.

Department of Chemistry, UC Irvine



Refreshments will be provided



Abstract:

This talk will describe the design, synthesis, and study of peptides that contain unnatural amino acids and mimic the structures and interactions of proteins. One class of peptides, artificial β-sheets, is designed to mimic the structures and interactions of proteins. Artificial β-sheets that contain the unnatural amino acid Hao can undergo controlled self-assembly or inhibit peptide and protein aggregation associated with Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases. A second class of peptides is designed to form water-soluble nanometer-scale structures that may ultimately be used to interact with the nanometer-scale machinery of living cells. These peptides contain the nanometer-sized sized amino acids Adc k, Abc 2k, m-Abc 2k, and o-Abc 2k, and can form molecular rods up to 10nm in length and molecular rings up to 4nm in diameter.



About the Speaker:

Professor James Nowick, Ph.D., first received a bachelors of arts from Columbia University in chemistry and went on to receive his Ph.D. in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He remained at M.I.T. for a postdoctoral fellow and one year later, achieved a faculty position at the University of California, Irvine in 1991. His research incorporates design, synthesis, and structural evaluation of molecules motivated by naturally occurring proteins. Nowick has an outstanding record of awards and fellowships related to both his research and teaching. In addition, he is also the founder of the Chemistry Outreach Program at UCI.