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SUMMARY:New Synthetic Tools for Peptide Medicinal Chemistry
LOCATION:Chemistry A101
TZID:America/Denver
DTSTART:20240422T160000
UID:2026-05-21-05-54-26@natsci.colostate.edu
DTSTAMP:20260521T055426
Description:About the Seminar:\n\nWhile the use of small organic molecules 
 as therapeutic agents (drugs) goes back to antiquity\, the therapeutic use
  of peptide drugs is a very recent phenomenon. Approximately 60 peptides h
 ave been introduced for clinical use in the past 25 years. 85% of these pe
 ptides contain at least one non-proteinogenic amino acid—those outside o
 f the naturally encoded and translated amino acids—to confer metabolic s
 tability\, receptor potency and/or receptor selectivity to the peptide. Fi
 nding the optimal residue involves trial and error\, each variant peptide 
 being made as the unique product of a long\, tedious\, and chemically inef
 ficient Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis (SPPS) procedure. We introduce a rad
 ically new approach to greatly accelerate the discovery process. Our appro
 ach takes advantage of a naturally encoded ‘pro-amino acid’\, dehydroa
 lanine\, as a chemical lynchpin. Implanted into ordinary peptides\, dehydr
 oalanine can become one of any number of non-proteinogenic residues by rea
 ction with one- or two- electron nucleophiles. Applied in parallel formats
 \, entirely new libraires of peptides that address new therapeutic targets
  can be made\, purified\, quantified\, and biochemically tested.\n\nAbout 
 the Speaker:\n\nSteve is a native of Baltimore\, Maryland. He attended McD
 aniel College (2006-2010) where he earned his B.A. in chemistry and bioche
 mistry. During this time\, Steve completed summer research at the Aberdeen
  Proving Ground and Edgewood Chemical &amp\; Biological Command. He then m
 oved to Johns Hopkins University (2010-2015) to complete his doctoral stud
 ies with Prof. Thomas Lectka\, studying synthetic organofluorine chemistry
  and catalysis. After graduation\, Steve traveled to Princeton University 
 (2015-2018) to complete his postdoctoral studies with Prof. David MacMilla
 n as an NIH fellow. In the MacMillan lab\, Steve worked in bioorganic chem
 istry\, developing new photocatalytic methods to site-specifically functio
 nalize peptides and proteins. Steve began his independent career at the Un
 iversity of Kansas in 2018 and his group is currently developing new synth
 etic chemistries for the diversification of peptides. The Bloom lab uses t
 hese methods to pioneer several medicinal chemistry projects in various di
 sease areas. 4:00 pm
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