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Weng Chan

Associate Professor and Reader in Chemical Biology, Faculty of Science

Contact

  • workRoom C10 The Centre for Biomolecular Sciences
    University Park
    Nottingham
    NG7 2RD
    UK
  • work0115 9515080
  • fax0115 9513412

Biography

I gained my PhD from the University of Nottingham in 1988 under the supervision of Barrie Bycroft and Ray Grout. This was followed by a period of postdoctoral training (1988-1992) under the guidance of Barrie Bycroft (Univ Nottingham), Gordon Roberts (Univ Leicester) and Mike Gasson (IFR, Norwich). In 1992, I was appointed to a lectureship at Nottingham, and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2000 and then to Reader in Chemical Biology in 2007. I am currently an academic staff member of the School of Pharmacy, and am located in the Centre for Biomolecular Sciences. I am also an active member of the Centre for Healthcare Associated Infections (http://hcai.nottingham.ac.uk/).

Since 1992, I have supervised over 30 PhD and MRes students who have successfully defended their theses. Over the same period, I have mentored over 10 postdoctoral fellows. A significant milestone in my career was the publication of my authoritative book 'Fmoc Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis: A Practical Approach' in 2000, which soon became an international 'Peptide Chemist Bible'. In 2006, I organised and chaired the first Merck Biosciences/RSC-sponsored mini-symposium on 'Chemistry and Biology of Peptides'.

Over the last decade, I was instrumental in the development of a series of unique multi-functional/orthogonally protected chemical reagents, e.g. novel 4-azalysine analogues, which facilitated the construction of hybrid and complex peptides. The Dde-based chemistry and chemical toolkits, ranging from amine- (Bycroft et al 1993, 1994, Nash et al 1996) and carboxy-protecting groups (Chan et al 1995) to novel tagging reagents and pseudoaromatic amino acids (Middleton et al 2004), which are now widely used by the biomedical and chemical community, were discovered and further developed in my laboratory.

I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and was recently (in 2009) a Visiting Professor at the Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, FRANCE. I am currently a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Chemical Biology.

Research Summary

My research activities are primarily hypothesis driven, and take a multidisciplinary but yet integrative approach to the identification, construction and manipulation of molecules to address defined… read more

Recent Publications

Current Research

My research activities are primarily hypothesis driven, and take a multidisciplinary but yet integrative approach to the identification, construction and manipulation of molecules to address defined biomedical objectives. A rational chemical design process is extensively applied for the production of novel peptoids, peptidomimetics and low-molecular weight molecules. These agents are used either as chemical tools to interrogate or to illuminate biomolecular interactions, or as lead drug candidates. The thematic areas in which this integrative chemical biology approach has been applied include: (i) Gram-positive pathogenicity; (ii) eukaryotic cell regulation; (iii) replication and translation systems; and (iv) ?-amyloid, neurofibrillary tangles and neurodegeneration.

I am one of the key drivers of the MRC Programme Grants (2003-08; 2009-2014 with Paul Williams, Phil Hill and Alan Cockayne), which ensures delivery of vital molecules in the context of modern medicinal chemistry. My pivotal contribution focuses on the discovery of novel chemical agents that attenuates staphylococcal infection by inhibiting the expression of virulence proteome. Importantly, a thorough structure-activity relationship studies led to the hypothesis of a two-site binding model for the interaction of S. aureus cognate activating-ligand AIP with AgrC. This work has recently expanded to the molecular and structural studies of the AgrC receptor and the multi-functional bioprocessing enzyme AgrB, as well as studies directed towards other important pathogens such as Clostridium difficile (in collaboration with Nigel Minton).

Our pioneering protecting-group chemistry that enabled the solid-phase synthesis of chimeric and cyclic peptides has contributed to interactions with Isabel Haro (CSIC, Barcelona) over the past 6 years in establishing peptoid-based immunodiagnostic agents for hepatitis A and G viruses. This successful collaboration recently resulted in the award of a grant to design and synthesise new peptoids for use not only in the diagnosis of HGV infection, but also to determine the mechanism of HGV-mediated delayed development of AIDS in HIV infected patients. A noteworthy collaborative project was recently established with John Mayer (Univ. Nottingham), in the chemical biology and molecular diagnostics for neurodegenerative diseases. In a recently funded CRUK project with Jonas Emsley and Peter Fischer, novel 'chemically' stable heterotrimeric collagen peptides will be chemically constructed to determine the mechanism of molecular recognition by specific integrin alpha-1 receptors.

Memberships of Committees & Professional Bodies

  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry
  • Committee member of the RSC Protein & Peptide Science Group
  • Member of American Chemical Society
  • Member of the American Peptide Society
  • Member of the European Association for Cancer Research
  • Member of the Society for Applied Microbiology
  • Member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain

Teaching

  • Practical Pharmaceutical Chemistry
  • Concepts in Medicinal Chemistry & Drug Discovery
  • Research Project
  • Biomolecular Therapeutics

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School of Pharmacy

University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD

telephone: +44 (0) 115 951 5100
fax: +44 (0) 115 951 5102
email: pharmacy-enquiries@nottingham.ac.uk