[On-demand webinar] Molecular recognition by specific targets is at the heart of the life processes. In recent years, it has been shown that the interactions between proteins (lectins, enzymes, antibodies) and carbohydrates mediate a broad range of biological activities, from fertilization, embryogenesis, and tissue maturation, to pathological processes.
The elucidation of the mechanisms that govern how sugars are accommodated in the binding sites of these receptors is currently a topic of interest.
Thus, the determination of the structural and conformational factors and the physicochemical features which govern the molecular recognition of these molecules is of paramount importance.
This presentation is focused on the application of NMR methods, both from the perspective of the receptor (especially chemical shift perturbation analysis) and from the ligand (especially, Saturation Transfer Difference, trNOESY, waterlogsy, relaxation-based methods and 19F-based experiments) to the study of molecular recognition processes between a variety of polypeptides of biomedical interest and small molecules, from carbohydrates to peptides and other entities. Special emphasis will be placed in dissecting the robustness of the different approaches, with the benefits and drawbacks, together with the experimental requirements, both from the spectrometers and from the sample availability.
Jesús Jiménez Barbero is a Full professor, and Head of the Dept. of Chemical and Physical Biology, at the University Autónoma in Madrid. Earlier in his career he has worked at CERMAV-CNRS, Grenoble, France, 1986 (Predoctoral); Dept.of Chemistry, University of Zurich (Switzerland), 1987 (Postdoctoral); National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill (UK) 1988 (Postdoctoral); and Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, USA; 1990-1992 (Postdoctoral). He has also held Visiting Professorships at ENS, Paris (2004), UPMC, Paris VI, (2009), and Milano Bicocca (2009-12). Prof. Jiménez Barbero has been the recipient of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry Janssen-Cilag Award in Organic Chemistry (2003), the Bruker NMR Prize of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (2008), and the International Whistler Award in Carbohydrate Chemistry (2010). He has over 400 papers in refereed journals, five patents, and 16 PhD Theses supervised, given more than 100 Invited or Plenary talks at international scientific conferences and institutions and been a member or chair of the Scientific and/or Organizing Committees of more than 30 Symposia. Prof. Jiménez Barbero is currently President of the Royal Society of Chemistry of Spain, Head of the Committee of Evaluation of Research in the Chemistry Programme (CTQ/BQU) of Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain, President of the International Carbohydrate Organization, and is or has been a Member of the Editorial and/or Advisory Boards of: Chem. Eur. J. (2001-), Org. Biomol Chem (2007-2008), Carbohydr. Res. (2001-), J. Carbohydr. Chem. (2002-), Glycoconj. J (2008-), Eur. J. Org. Chem. (2009-), ChemBioChem, (2011-), and ChemPlusChem (2012-).
