ASSOCIATED MAJORS:

1. LIFE SCIENCES & MEDICINE

• Pharmacy

1. NATURAL SCIENCES

• Chemistry

PROJECT TITLE:

Supramolecular peptide-based structures with possible application in the pre-exposure prophylaxis of HIV-1 infection.

PROJECT SUMMARY. Description of activities and objectives:

Over the past decade, peptide drug discovery has experienced a revival of interest by the pharmaceutical industry considering that peptide therapeutics can cover unmet medical needs and can be an excellent complement or even preferable alternative to small molecules and biological therapeutics. In the frame of the research developed at the Unit of Synthesis and Biomedical Applications of Peptides the specific objective of this proposal is addressed to design and synthesize assembled amphiphilic peptides to obtain supramolecular structures with anti-HIV activity for their use in the pre-exposure prophylaxis of HIV infection. These novel self-assembly structures are expected to facilitate the presentation of the HIV-1 entry inhibitor peptide at high density at the surface of the nanostructures in aqueous solution as well as its subsequent insertion into the membrane upon the disruption of the supramolecular aggregates.

The main activities to carry out by the student are: Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis, Peptides purification and characterization by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Biophysical studies with the synthesized peptides and model membranes (i.e. liposomes) using Fluorescence assays. The ultimate goal of the project is to obtain novel amphiphilic peptides with an improved anti- HIV-1 activity.

https://www.iqac.csic.es/