This colloquium has been postponed.
We will reschedule Joshua Kritzer in Fall 2024.
Joshua Kritzer, Professor of Chemistry at Tufts University, will deliver a seminar entitled, "Controlling Autophagy with Stapled Peptides." Hosted by the Chemistry Graduate Students, represented by Dave Strzeminski.
For more information about Joshua Kritzer, click here.
Abstract: Autophagy is a cellular recycling process important for health and disease, and a major focus for new types of targeted protein degradation. The Kritzer Lab has used structure-based design to develop stapled peptides that bind the critical autophagy proteins LC3B and GABARAP with nanomolar affinities. Small changes in staple structure produced ligands with very different binding modes, leading to differences in paralog selectivity. The stapled peptides exhibited considerable cytosolic penetration and resistance to biological degradation. They also reduced autophagic flux in cultured ovarian cancer cells and sensitized ovarian cancer cells to cisplatin. These small, potent stapled peptides represent promising autophagy-modulating compounds that can be developed as novel cancer therapeutics and novel tools for targeted protein degradation.
