Chemical profiling of ubiquitin conjugation enzymes

A PhD project in the Virdee lab is available involving the development of chemical tools known as activity-based probes (ABPs). ABPs measure the activity of disease-relevant enzymes and the Virdee lab have developed these for the enzymes that conjugate ubiquitin to substrates (1-3). The project will develop next generation versions of these powerful tools and apply them to make exciting biological discoveries and advance drug discovery towards these highly promising therapeutic targets. The project crosses the boundaries of chemistry and biology and would provide fantastic training opportunity for those wishing to pursue a career in life science research. Those with an undergraduate degree in a chemical science with prior experience working with biological systems would be strongly encouraged to apply.