Wavelength-selective photocleavable protecting groups for the synthesis and activation of biologically relevant 3D-structured peptides (WActiPepti)

Applications to a PhD fellowship funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions COFUND Doctoral Programme in the field of Sciences of Light are open until Monday 23 February.

Information about eligibility and application procedure is available on the dedicated website.

Project summary (details in the downloadable pdf below):
The objective of this international and interdisciplinary PhD project is to prepare novel photocaged peptides, perform in-depth studies of their photochemical/photophysical behavior, and apply them to the inhibition of the p53-MDM2 interaction, a well-recognized strategy in cancerology.
To reach this goal, this project gathers an international consortium with a broad range of expertise including synthetic organic chemistry, photophysics and biology.
A first peptide series, designed to undergo 3D structuration upon photodeprotection and induce inhibition of the p53-MDM2 interaction, will be studied in a cellular context. A second series involving a cyclopeptide with multiple photocleavable protecting groups will be studied in the context of the development of a novel synthetic methodology to access biologically relevant complex molecular architectures based on sequential wavelength-selective photodeprotections.

Keywords related to the project:
• (Bio)organic chemistry
• Photochemistry
• Photophysics
• Peptides
• p53-MDM2 interaction