Engineering Opto-Chemical Tools – Towards Complex Function in Biological Environment

Place: conference room, IMDEA Nanociencia.

Abstract:

Organic chromophores are the foundation for developing light-responsive compounds that enable control over bioactive functions and site-specific labeling reactions in opto-chemical biology and photopharmacology. These light-responsive molecules include photoswitches, photocages, and click reagents, and are often appended onto a bioactive molecule or structurally merged with it to couple the light-mediated structural change to a change in bioactive function or site-specific labeling reactions.

To achieve optimal performance in biological systems, the chromophore structure and properties need to match the requirements for photopharmacology, such as fast and clean conversions with pronounced structural changes. This can be achieved through substituent design and optimization of the chromophore core structure, and is constrained by considerations of the intended application.

We will present approaches for designing and optimizing different types of chromophores for opto-chemical biology and photopharmacology. We will showcase both small molecule modulation and biomolecule conjugates, for example, using azobenzene-based photoswitches for controlling protein function, and the development of photocages for site-specific labeling of biomolecules.

Our work aims to provide a deeper understanding of the design principles for light-responsive chromophores and their potential applications in opto-chemical biology and photopharmacology as well as challenges and opportunities of the field.

Short biography:

Nadja A. Simeth was born in Cham, Bavaria, Germany. She started in 2009 with her studies in chemistry at the University of Regensburg, Germany, and graduated in 2014 after working with Morten Grotli at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, for her Master's project. Then, she pursued her doctorate studies with Burkhard König at the University of Regensburg, Germany, as a fellow of the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes. In 2017, she was a visiting researcher with Maurizio Fagnoni at the PhotoGreenLab at the University of Pavia, Italy. She returned to Regensburg and defended her thesis in summer 2018 with summa cum laude. She afterwards joined the group of Ben L. Feringa at the University of Groningen as a postdoc supported by a Feodor-Lynen Fellowship of the Humboldt Foundation. In autumn 2021, she was appointed as assistant professor at the University of Göttingen. She is interested in the design of smart drugs, biochemical probes and labels, as well as photoresponsive supramolecular architectures and biohybrid systems. The current research of the lab spans all thy way from developing small, organic photoactuators to the design and synthesis of stimuli-responsive peptides under the umbrella "PhotoBioOrgChem".

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