Protein Engineering

Description of content
 
In this course important methods and techniques (both molecular-biological and chemical) will be discussed that can be used to develop new proteins with new and biomedically attractive properties. The course starts with a renewed introduction to protein structure, followed by some analytical techniques that are important for protein characterization (circular dichrosim, mass spectrometry, X-ray, and NMR). After this general introduction the following subjects will be treated:
 
•biological synthesis of proteins (recombinant expression systems, use of affinity tags)
•chemical synthesis of peptides and proteins
•chemical modifications of proteins, non-natural amino acids
•protein folding
•rational design of new proteins (strategy, site-directed mutagenesis, chimeric proteins)
•directed evolution and high-throughput library screening
 
All techniques will be illustrated by giving examples of applications. No specific book is used in this course. The general Biochemistry textbook will be used to treat general aspects of protein chemistry. For specific subjects, review papers will be handed-out. An important part of the course is a seminar that will be organized at the end of the course. In this seminar students will present recent papers on new development in protein engineering and discuss their strengths and weaknesses.

Literature/study material used:
reader (recommended)
 
Registration:
Please register at the TU/e, course code: 8SM10 at least 4 weeks before the start of the course. Osiris registration will be done retroactively when results from the TU/e are received.
 
Mandatory for students in own Master’s programme:
No.
 
Optional for students in other GSLS Master’s programme:
No, for RMTM students only
 
Prerequisite knowledge:
When foreign students participate the lectures will be in English, otherwise they are in Dutch.
8RA00 - Biochemistry (compulsory)
8RB00 - Molecular cell biology (compulsory)
8RB20 - Chemical biology (recommended)