Welcome to Chow Lab Research Exploring the RNA World, One Modification at a Time
"All for One and One for All "
Our Approach
Project 1 - Towards the development of new small molecule antibiotics, we study the affinity and specificity of peptide/RNA complexes, with peptides selected from phage-display or chemical split-pool libraries against ribosomal RNA targets
Project Showcase
Name: Anne-Cécile E. Duc
e-mail: acduc@chem.wayne.edu
Webpage:
phone: 3135773090
My project involves the studies of peptide/RNA complexes as a base for the development of future antimicrobial compounds. We are interested in the development of a new class of antibiotic drug to face the ever-growing number of existing drug that face resistance. Our compounds, obtained through phage-display or split-pool libraries, are aimed at specific areas of the ribosome, modelized by small hairpin model. We use small rRNA hairpins as models. The hit obtained are individually synthesized and their binding affinities to small rRNA models studied. Some of the areas of the ribosome we are interested in include the A-site RNA of the 16 S rRNA, and the helix 69 of the 23 S rRNA. Different methods are used to study the binding interactions of the small molecules with the RNAs to obtain a variety of information. The methods involved include fluorescence spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, enzymatic footprinting to identify the possible binding sites, and surface plasmon resonance. The results obtained by these biophysical studies will also provide some insights about the specificities of peptide/RNA complexes that were not designed by Nature. Supported by NIH-A1061192
Figure: A.) Detailed view of H69 (cyan) interactions with the A-site decoding region (orange). and the A-site tRNA (green) (1), B.) Schematic representation of the surface plasmon resonance set-up.
