Presentation
The main objectives of this Department are the development of new compounds, as small proteins or pseudo-peptides, with applications for human healthcare. The development of those compounds relies on two laboratories, with complementary expertise in peptide-protein chemistry and production of recombinant proteins by different expression systems. Protein engineering studies are based on a good knowledge, at the molecular level, of the functions of natural proteins, expressed in human pathologies or by animals, plants and microorganisms as potent toxins or enzymes of biosynthetic pathways. Deciphering the molecular mechanisms responsible for the biological activities of proteins leads to the design and development of original compounds with activity equal or superior to that of natural proteins.
Knowledge of protein-ligand interaction at the molecular level (a) allows the design of small size protein (b) or pseudo-peptide (c).