New methods for drug discovery and structural biology by NMR spectroscopy

The Project aims to extend the utility of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in rational drug development and protein structure analysis. A chemical labelling approach developed at the ANU opens new opportunities by providing detailed 3D structure information of large protein-ligand complexes, as required for structure-based lead-compound development. The technology will be enhanced further by the development of new chemical and paramagnetic lanthanide tags for site-specific dual labelling of proteins, and will be extended to assess target-drug interactions by in-cell electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. The techniques offer scope for significantly accelerated drug development in the pharmaceutical industries.