From peptides to proteins: lessons from my years at the Centre for Protein Engineering.
The MRC Centre for Protein Engineering (CPE) hosted and trained many scientists over the years. It is a unique research environment that shaped the career of many scientists in all aspects. These include research directions and methodologies, but even more important--issues such as how to approach scientific problems and how to manage a research team. Alan Fersht was the director of the CPE when I joined it as a postdoc in the year 2000. In the current article for the PEDS special CPE issue, I will review how my scientific research and my approach to science developed from the days I arrived to the CPE as a young peptide chemist and throughout the years I spent at the CPE, and how it shaped my current research interests and attitude. I will focus on two major fields: (i) Using peptides to study and modulate the structure and interactions of proteins; (ii) Using quantitative biophysical methods to study proteins and their interactions at the molecular level.
Institute of Chemistry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Safra Campus, Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904, Israel. assaf@chem.ch.huji.ac.il
Assaf
A
Friedler
D000818:Animals; D001703:Biophysics / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011485:Protein Binding; D015202:Protein Engineering; D017510:Protein Folding / Q000187:drug effects; D025941:Protein Interaction Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D055550:Protein Stability / Q000187:drug effects; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D010455:Peptides; D011506:Proteins; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53