Coenzymatic tools for the design of macrocyclic peptides (CETMAP)

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Description

Drug development is a complex and costly process - countless substances are created and tested by scientists, but only a few actually reach patients. To make this process faster and more efficient, scientists are looking for new ways to create effective substances that could become the medicines of the future.

One promising approach involves specific circular molecular compounds known as peptide macrocycles. These compounds can precisely target cells and organisms, making them strong candidates for drug development. However, at present, making these compounds in the laboratory is very difficult and very few different types of compounds have been made.

The CETMAP project will look for new “tools” - enzymes that already exist in nature but can be adapted to form these circular compounds. Enzymes act as a kind of chemical tool, enabling the faster, more precise, and more diverse creation of peptides that could become the medicines of the future..

The Achievable Results

The project aims to identify and develop enzymes capable of forming these circular compounds, investigate which enzymes work most efficiently, and to create a platform that allows the rapid and reliable formation of a large variety of peptide macrocycles.

The Anticipated Benefit

Overall, this means developing greener, more efficient, and safer medicines, which in the long term helps create more and better treatments, making them more accessible to the public.