S2: Protein Medicinal Chemistry with an Expanded Genetic Code

When compared to what a medicinal chemist might do when exploring the structure-activity relationships in a small molecule, bio-conjugation using the natural twenty amino acids is very limiting.  By lifting this constraint through the use of recombinant expression systems that enable site-specific incorporation of bio-orthogonal non-native amino acids, it is possible to not only derive a better understanding of the relationship between protein structure and function, but also to optimize proteins to possess new or enhanced pharmaceutical properties. This talk will describe recent advances in using an expanded genetic code to systematically optimize the performance of therapeutic proteins and antibody drug conjugates.