De Novo Docking

Our initial engineering goal is to redesign, mutate and drive small proteins to self-assemble into complexes of specific structure (e.g. precise dimer formation). The small proteins will then be redesigned to bind to specific regions of target proteins expressed by pathogenic organisms. These design targets are geared towards applications in the field of protein-based drug design. Our approach entails a design cycle which couples computer science, molecular biology, biochemistry and spectroscopy. This cyclic approach ultimately increases our understanding of the forces that drive protein self-assembly and raises the likelihood of successful protein-protein complex design.