Objective
Most of our drugs derive from natural products, many more natural products possess biological activity but our inability to synthesise novel analogues hampers our ability to use them either as tools or medicines. Cyclic peptides are common structural motifs in natural products and medicines (vancomycin, gramicidin). They are widely recognised to constitute a promising and still underexploited class of molecule for novel therapeutics; specifically an important role for cyclic peptides in the inhibition of protein-protein interactions has been demonstrated. We will harness the power of the recently identified macrocyclases from the ribosomally-derived cyanobactin superfamily to prepare diverse modified cyclic peptides. These enzymes exhibit the remarkable ability to macrocyclise unactivated peptide substrates. Different members of this family of macrocyclases process peptides into macrocycles containing from six up to twenty residues. We have characterised and re-engineered one member of the family (PatG) which makes eight residue macrocycles. We will determine the structural and biochemical features of the macrocyclases that are known to lead to six or to twenty residue macrocycles. We will use these insights to put these enzymes to work in novel chemical reactions. We will combine macrocyclases with other enzymes from the cyanobactin biosynthetic pathways (whose structures and mechanism we have largely determined) and work on solid phase peptide substrates. By bringing together the power of solid phase methods (split and pool) and the novel chemistry enabled by the enzymes, we will generate highly diverse macrocyclic scaffolds containing amino acids, enzymatically modified amino acids, non-natural amino acids and non-amino acid building blocks. Successful completion of the project will revolutionise the design of cyclic peptide-inspired libraries with diverse backbone scaffolds for applications in target identification, drug discovery and tool screening.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug discovery
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins proteomics
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry amines
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins enzymes
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
ERC-2013-ADG
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Host institution
OX1 2JD Oxford
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.