Category: Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry
Tropsha Awarded NSF Grant to Design Tools to Analyze Protein-Protein Interactions
August 14, 2012Alex Tropsha, PhD, has been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation worth almost $900,000 over three years to design novel approaches to analyzing protein-protein interactions. The interactions between proteins play a central role in all major signaling events that occur in living cells. However, many if not most pairs of interacting proteins remain unknown, and their discovery presents a key challenge for postgenomic biology, says Tropsha, the K.H. Lee Distinguished Professor in the School’s Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry. “We plan to create and deliver—ultimately in the form of user-friendly software—novel approaches to analyzing protein-protein interactions … Read more
Frye Awarded $1 Million Eshelman Professorship
July 26, 2012The UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy has named Stephen Frye, PhD, as the recipient of a $1 million Eshelman Distinguished Professorship. Frye is the director of the School’s Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery, a research group bringing dedicated medicinal chemistry expertise to bear on biological targets of therapeutic relevance that are under investigation by UNC faculty. CIBDD project teams work with other groups on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus to move potential drug targets through the drug discovery and development process. “The Eshelman professorships support outstanding scholars and researchers like Dr. Frye who are working at the forefront … Read more
Students Secure Seven AFPE Predoctoral Fellowships
June 22, 2012The American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education has awarded Predoctoral Fellowships in Pharmaceutical Science to seven graduate students at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Twelve applications were submitted by the School. “This is the largest number of both AFPE applications and awards during my nine-year tenure,” says Dean Bob Blouin, PharmD. “I would like to offer my most sincere congratulations to the recipients.” The following students in the Division of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics and the Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry received the $6,500 fellowships: Whitney Caron (DPET). Caron had her existing AFPE fellowship renewed. Her research interests … Read more
Function of Enzyme 3-OST Becomes Crystal Clear to Liu
April 2, 2012Scientists at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences have crystallized 3-O-sulfotransferase, giving a clearer look at the internal composition of an enzyme critical to making a synthetic form of the blood thinner heparin. “It’s like having x-ray vision,” says Jian Liu, PhD, a professor at the School. “The crystal structure brings order to the approximately 300 amino acid residues that make up this enzyme that is a key to the biosynthesis of heparin.” In the final stage of synthesizing synthetic heparin, 3-OST-1 combines with a cofactor to impart anticoagulant properties to a heparin … Read more
Pempe, Xu Receive University Impact Awards for Research
April 2, 2012Elizabeth “Liz” Pempe and Weichen Xu, both graduate students in the Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, have received Impact Awards from the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Impact Awards recognize outstanding graduate students whose research covers a variety of areas: education, the environment, economic development, health, public administration and more. Recipients present their research at the Graduate School’s Annual Graduate Student Recognition Celebration and receive a cash award for their accomplishments. Elizabeth Pempe, “Using Structural Motifs to Improve Heparin Clearance” Heparin is one of … Read more
School to Increase Graduate Student Stipends
March 19, 2012Graduate students at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy will have their stipends increased nearly 20 percent over the next two years, raising the amount they receive from $23,000 per year to $27,500. The stipend will grow over two years with $2,500 added in fall 2012 and $2,000 added in fall 2013. The increase will affect all doctoral candidates recruited directly into the graduate program in pharmaceutical sciences and will serve as the new base amount of support offered by the School. Graduate students receive stipends as compensation for teaching, research duties, or other comparable academic responsibilities. “We have devoted … Read more
UNC Research Center Receives Contract to Fight Kidney Cancer
March 8, 2012The Center for Integrative Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has received a contract from SAIC-Frederick, Inc. to develop potential drug leads for treating renal cell carcinoma, the most common type of kidney cancer in adults. The contract, which is part of the National Cancer Institute’s Chemical Biology Consortium program, will provide more than $843,000 over eighteen months to support research led by William Janzen and Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD. Janzen is the director of assay development and compound profiling at the CICBDD, while Rathmell is an associate professor in the UNC … Read more
Researchers Watch as Protein Shakes off Molecular Messengers
February 9, 2012Most drugs are designed to attach to a protein and either activate or inhibit the protein’s function (usually the latter). One of the measures of a good drug is how tightly it binds to its target protein. Eventually a drug molecule, known as a ligand or signaling molecule, will lose its grip and stop working, a process known as disassociation. The disassociation rates of drugs have been studied and measured for years, but the mechanism behind disassociation for proteins whose binding sites lie on the surface has not been explored to any great degree. Andrew Lee, PhD, and a team … Read more
UNC Study Could Lead to Treatment for Angelman Syndrome
December 21, 2011Results of a new study by a team of researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill may help pave the way to a treatment for Angelman syndrome, a neurogenetic disorder for which there is currently no effective therapy. The most characteristic feature of AS is the absence or near absence of speech throughout the person’s life. The disease, often misdiagnosed as cerebral palsy or autism, is caused by mutations or deletions in the Ube3a gene inherited from the mother, or the maternal allele. The Ube3a protein produced by that gene is a key component of an important … Read more
School Announces Two New First-Year Graduate Fellowships in Chemical Biology
December 8, 2011The Division of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy has announced the creation of two fellowships to support graduate students in their first year in the division. The Chemical Biology Scholar Fellowship and Chemical Biology Merit Fellowship awards will be offered to outstanding applicants who demonstrate an impressive record of achievement in their undergraduate education, research, and life experiences and show the highest academic potential, says David Lawrence, PhD, Eshelman Distinguished Professor and chair of the division. Students awarded these fellowships will receive annual stipends totaling $25,000 to $27,000 in their first year and … Read more