[FI2020] Síntesis y Aplicaciones Biomédicas de Péptidos

Synthetic peptides present a broad spectrum of potential benefits in Biomedicine, both as diagnostic and therapeutic agents. Over the past decade, peptide drug discovery has experienced a revival of interest by the pharmaceutical industry considering that peptides therapeutics can cover unmet medical needs and can be an excellent complement or even preferable alternative to small molecules and biological therapeutics.
The general objective of the projects that we carried out at the Unit of Synthesis and Biomedical Applications of Peptides (USiBAP) covers topics of scientific interest in Biomedicine with a translational perspective.
Specifically, in the field of HIV-1 prevention, anti-retroviral-based pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is currently the only approach with an FDA approval. In this context, new compounds not currently used in therapy are needed to prevent transmission of resistant isolates. In addition, modulation of the mucosal portal of viral entry by compounds with anti-inflammatory properties will lead to new or optimized prevention interventions against HIV-1 transmission.
The PhD student will be involved in the design and synthesis of novel assembled peptide amphiphiles (PAs) in order to obtain supramolecular structures with anti-HIV-1 activity for their use in the PrEP of HIV-1 infection. These novel self-assembly structures are expected to facilitate the presentation of the bioactive molecules at high density at the cell membrane where viral entry takes place. Inhibitory potency, cellular and immunological safety of PAs is currently being assessed in collaboration with Dr. C. Herrera at the Department of Medicine, Imperial College of London.

 

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Tesis Doctoral