Research Interests
The objective of research in the Taylor group is to develop innovative new chemical tools that can be used to reveal hidden biology and speed up the drug discovery process by (1) increasing our knowledge of biological systems (2) facilitating the discovery of new target proteins and lead molecules and (3) by enabling access to new therapeutic protein and peptide conjugate structures.
Much of the biological world inside of a cell is invisible to us since there are few techniques that can capture biological events both in real- time (nanoseconds to minutes timescales) and with molecular-level precision across all proteins (referred to as the proteome) in a cell simultaneously. By combining chemistry that forms precise covalent bonds with biomolecules in living systems with cutting-edge analytical workflows, we are uniquely poised to reveal new biology that other approaches cannot achieve. The sheer complexity of biology demands diverse chemical approaches, and the lack of suitable chemistry is a significant roadblock to revealing new biology.
New Synthetic Methods for Protein Modification:
Our group takes a “from the ground up,” approach to design chemical reactions, new reagents, and reactive intermediates that form covalent bonds with biomolecules, but are also activated by the absorption of light. In doing so, we take chemistry from a ground state to an “excited state” which allows us to access reactions with exceptional performance characteristics that are not accessible from a ground state. Our adventures have led us to the unique and often-mysterious world of excited-state chemistry of aromatic cations which we have found to be privileged structures for photochemical biology.
Chemical proteomics
Combining chemistry with proteomics yields the field of chemical proteomics, in which chemical reactivity is used to gain insights into how molecules, both small, large, and biological, interact with other biomolecules. These workflows are especially useful for drug-discovery, and we are using the unique chemical tools developed in our lab to speed up the discovery of new druggable targets and lead compounds.
Exploring (Chemical) Biology
Using the unique new synthetic methods developed in the group in combination with proteomics and other tools, our group explores biology in its most relevant environment: the native cell. The video on the right is an example in which we use the chemical sensing capabilities of one of our designer molecules to track cellular microstructures in real time.
Funding
We are grateful to the following organizations that have/are funding our research:
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