Files

Download

Download Full Text (2.8 MB)

Abstract

Cancer chemotherapy results in systematic damage as the drugs used are also toxic to benign tissue. Sensitizing a cancer cell to therapy by interfering with the DNA repair mechanisms would decrease overall toxicity, as the necessary dosage of chemotherapy drugs would be lowered. The Hartman lab developed a peptide (8.6) that binds with a KD of 1 μM to the C-terminal domain of breast cancer associated protein (BRCA1), blocking homologous recombination. The crystal structure of the peptide shows the tyrosine and threonine residues are close together, suggesting that by cyclizing these positions, the peptide may already be constrained into its bound conformation. A series of dibromomethylnaphthalene linkers of various length were synthesized and cyclized through alkylation of the cysteine residues on peptide 8.6. The binding of the cyclic peptides with the BRCA1 (BRCT)2 domain will be compared to peptide 8.6 through the use of fluorescence polarization.

Publication Date

2017

Subject Major(s)

Chemistry

Keywords

BRCA1, cancer, cyclize, peptide, (BRCT)2, naphthalene, dibromomethylnaphthalene

Disciplines

Medicinal-Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Current Academic Year

Senior

Faculty Advisor/Mentor

Matthew C. T. Hartman

Rights

© The Author(s)

Improving binding affinity through cyclization

Share

COinS