Imperial leads two major new research networks in chemical biology

Scientists across the country are today being invited to join two new multidisciplinary networks, to carry out research and share knowledge in chemical biology - News

by Simon Levey
8 June 2011

Scientists across the country are today being invited to join two new multidisciplinary networks to carry out research and share knowledge in chemical biology, led by the Institute of Chemical Biology at Imperial College London.

Chemical biology is defined as the use of chemistry and chemical tools to understand and solve biological problems. It is considered by many scientists to be an area of great economic value, as it is an essential component of innovative research in areas such as drug discovery and agricultural chemicals, but its experimental techniques are often underused in research that spans different scientific disciplines.

The new Protein-Protein Interactions Network (PPI-Net), led jointly by Imperial and the University of Leeds, will focus on the development of new medicines. The new Agri-Science Chemical Biology Network (AGRI-Net) will focus on agricultural science and sustainability.

The two new networks at Imperial are amongst 7 new networks established this year with £1.2 million from Research Councils UK in order to accelerate scientific discovery. The aim is to bring together scientists with common research interests and formulate a nationwide picture of what is currently understood as well as outlining discoveries that should be possible using the range of individual research strengths in the networks. Researchers who join the networks will help to accelerate development in their field of study and benefit from increased opportunities to share contact with other scientific teams across the UK.

Whilst similar collaborative activities currently take place on a smaller scale at individual universities, clusters of institutions or UK regions, this is the first time that networks have been established to bring together expertise from a range of academic organisations and industry across the nation.

Professor Maggie Dallman, Principal of Imperial's Faculty of Natural Sciences, said: "Collaboration is the key to the UK's strength in chemical biology, which borrows the most tried and successful techniques from chemistry to help scientists interact directly with the biological processes of cells. Through the sharing of ideas, researchers across the country will be able to make significant progress and new technological developments in this important field.

"All the institutions involved have great track records for innovative research, and the Research Councils have a vital role to play in nurturing this research and translating its findings into tangible benefits, such as in drug discovery or progress in agricultural science. We are honoured to be an integral part of this new enterprise and look forward to working with our new partners to address some of the most important global challenges in science and healthcare."

Dr Celia Caulcott, Director of Innovation and Skills at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), added: "These networks will strengthen the research community and enable new partnerships to form across disciplines. The three research councils involved have a strong history of funding research at the chemistry-biology interface, including protein structure and chemistry; biological catalysis; novel chemical synthesis methods; and the application of engineering principles to biological materials. Research within these topics can support a variety of technological developments in industry that will underpin social and economic impact from high-quality science."

Protein-Protein Interactions Network (PPI-Net)

Dr Ian Gould from the Department of Chemistry views a protein structure with 3D goggles

The process of developing new medicines relies upon scientists' ability to understand the biological details of a disease and also the way in which new molecular medicines can be designed to either cure the illness or alleviate its symptoms. One such biological mechanism is the way in which one protein recognises and binds to another protein in order to control what it does in the body. This regulation underpins much of the biological activity in living cells, and yet scientists say they do not understand what allows one protein to bind to another. The Protein-Protein Interactions Network (PPI-Net), which is supported by three of the UK's research councils, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), will help scientists understand how to design molecules to prevent or enhance these interactions.

Professor David Klug, the co-Chair of the Institute of Chemical Biology at Imperial and leads Imperial's side of the PPI-Net, said: "Gaining a better understanding of the chemical biology of living cells would be a huge advance in the way we approach the search for new types medicines. It is estimated that there are approximately 650,000 types of specific protein-protein interactions in each human cell. This means that there are potentially 650,000 targets for modifying biological function by the use of drugs.”

Professor Klug added: "Although the knowledge of how to do this remains beyond our grasp, progress has been made in some parts of the problem, and new ways of looking at the problem have also been developed with others already in development. We hope to consolidate this knowledge with new members of the PPI-Net."

Head of Molecular and Cellular medicine at the MRC, Nathan Richardson, commented: "Chemical biology, particularly at the interface with pharmacology, medicinal chemistry and structure-based drug design, is a priority area for the MRC. Through this pump-priming investment and follow-on research activities we are eager to capitalise on the UK’s strengths in drug discovery and, through multi-disciplinary working, exploit innovative chemical biology to tackle important biomedical questions and develop novel therapeutics approaches."

Agri-Science Chemical Biology Network (AGRI-Net)

AGRI-Net scientists will work to improve the efficiency of photosynthesis in plants

Global population increases are pushing up international demand for agricultural supplies such as quality food, fibre for materials and fabrics, and crops that can be used directly or processed for fuel. Agricultural scientists are using chemical biology across many disciplines like genetics, engineering, physics and mathematics, to discover new methods of improving crop productivity in an economically and environmentally sustainable way.

Through chemical biology, AGRI-Net will improve the work of scientists in areas of research such as increasing the efficiency of photosynthesis in plants, reducing the amount of harvest lost to pests or diseases, enhancing the quality and dependability of crops, minimising waste products created by food processing and improving efforts to process plant materials for fuels and other plant-derived chemicals and materials. Its work is supported by EPSRC and BBSRC.

Drs Laura Barter and Rudiger Woscholski from the Institute of Chemical Biology lead AGRI-Net, which they hope will bring together academics, policy makers and industry. Dr Barter said: "Interaction between chemical biologists and physical scientists like chemists, physicists, mathematicians and engineers strengthens our ability to meet the big challenges in agricultural science. Chemical Biology has been successful at tackling biomedical challenges with new bespoke scientific tools and technologies as they have emerged across the range of disciplines, and with AGRI-Net we hope they can soon be used to tackle the food security concerns and challenges of this century."

Dr Stuart John Dunbar, Head of Mode of Biological Activity at Syngenta, said: “The interactions between chemistry and complex biological systems are central to research in agricultural science. This network will, for the first time, bring together researchers at these interfaces to address the challenges we face in sustainably feeding a growing population."

Researchers wishing to join PPI-Net should make contact through Dr Wing-Chau Tung (w.tung@imperial.ac.uk), and for AGRI-Net to email Dr Laura Barter (l.barter@imperial.ac.uk) or Dr Rudiger Woscholski (r.woscholski@imperial.ac.uk). More information and updates can also be found through the networks' respective websites at http://www.ppi-net.org and http://www.agri-net.net