King Abdullah University of Science and Technology | KAUST
BESE
Research in Professor Łukasz Jaremko's Molecular Diagnostics and Drug Discovery (MD3) group focuses on atomic-level insight into essential and topical questions from biochemistry and medicine, such as, e.g., the primary molecular bases of cancer, including leukaemia and lung cancer (Nature, 2021). The team is actively working in the field of targeted drug design and discovery, using structure-dynamics analysis to search for small molecules (ligands) that interact specifically with the disease-associated proteins. Identified lead compounds are then engineered to increase their binding and, thus therapeutic potency against cancer (Nature Chem Biol, 2021). Biomolecular nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is the crucial experimental technique used and refined (J Chem Phys B, 2015; Angewandte Chem, 2016; J Biomol NMR, 2018, 2020) to tackle challenging macromolecular assemblies (Nature Chem Biol, 2013, 2021; Science, 2014; Nature Communications, 2016, 2017, 2022; Nucleic Acids Res, 2019; Am J Hum Genetics, 2019; Chemical Science, 2020; eLife, 2021; Nature 2021; Mol. Cell 2021). The comprehensive dynamic structural studies are then combined with molecular and enzymatic assays as well as other state-of-the-art biophysical techniques such as X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy, circular dichroism and molecular dynamics simulations to get further insights into the complex biological systems essential for human health.
