Academic Staff
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Prof Robert Brownlee BA Camb., MSc E. Anglia, PhD E. Anglia, FRACI Head of Chemistry
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Research Interests
Biological Chemistry; Multinuclear NMR. NMR structure of polypeptides and proteins; computer aided drug design. Design and synthesis of DNA binding compounds.- Computer graphics aided drug design.
- Design and synthesis of model DNA regulators.
- Multinuclear and industrial applications of NMR.
- 3-dimensional structures of small (cyclic) peptides by NMR methods.
- Development of new NMR methods for structural determination.
- Effective teaching informed by research.
A. The Structure of small and unsual cyclic peptides
A full range of 2-D NMR methods are used to determine the 3-dimensional structure of biologically interesting cyclic peptides and peptidic like structures. In particular we are interested in cyclic N-methylated peptides where novel NMR methods are required for structural elucidation.B. Protein/DNA Interactions, and Drug Design
(with D.R. Phillips)In this project we aim to synthesise model drugs constructed from a short peptide a-helix coupled to a simple intercalator. These molecules are designed to bind to specific sequences in B-DNA and NMR methods will be used for structure determination, and to study drug/DNA interactions. Considerable use is made of 3-dimensional graphics to model the protein/DNA complex.