CBC Colloquium Series: "Genetically Encoded Chemistries to Read and Write Biology"

When

3:30 – 4:30 p.m., April 27, 2023

Location

Chatterjee_Photo

McClelland Park, Room 105

Presenter

Dr. Abhishek Chatterjee, Professor, Department of Chemistry, Boston College

Hosted by Dr. Michael Taylor.

Abstract

The targeted incorporation of non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) into living cell proteins has emerged as a powerful tool for biological research and biotechnology in the past decade. Our group focuses on advancing this technology for understanding and manipulating biological processes in living cells, as well as to create opportunities to develop next-generation biotehrapeutics. Our research goals include: 1) Developing new bioorthogonal conjugation reactions that are compatible with existing bioconjugation chemistries for precise protein labeling with multiple distinct entities, 2) Creating next-generation biotherapeutics, such as antibody-conjugates and precisely modified viral vectors for enhanced gene therapy, 3) Investigating the roles of various post-translational modifications of human proteins, and 4) Analyzing dynamic changes in the cellular proteome in response to various stimuli. In this seminar, we will discuss the development of a novel technique for characterizing proteomic changes in pathogenic bacteria during the infection process, as well as a mammalian cell-based directed evolution platform to enhance the efficiency of ncAA incorporation systems in these cells.