Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology Engineering molecules for cellular biology
Development of chemical probes and genetically encoded markers
Using synthetic chemistry and directed evolution methods, Dr. Murat Sünbül's research group aims to develop new and improved chemical probes and genetically encoded markers for modern light microscopy and for the discovery of unknown molecular interactions. It is also researching their potential as diagnostic markers and therapeutic agents.
Research Topics
To image a variety of biomolecules, including proteins, RNA and DNA, with super-resolution microscopy, we aim to develop genetically encoded fluorescent markers that light up upon binding to membrane-permeable, non-fluorescent small molecule dyes. These customized dyes fluoresce only upon binding to their corresponding peptide or nucleic acid partners and allow for no-wash fluorescence imaging.
Although enzymatic proximity labeling methods are widely used to study large subcellular structures, technologies that enable high-precision mapping of the microenvironment are still lacking. We therefore aim to develop new technologies to study protein-protein, RNA-protein, RNA-RNA and DNA-protein interactions, including weak and transient interactions. We will expand the known interactomes, enabling the discovery of new functions of RNAs and proteins.
Nucleic acid aptamers are excellent tumor tracers because they are small, bind selectively and with high sensitivity to target proteins, can be rapidly distributed in the tissue and excreted from the organism, provided they are not bound to tumor tissue. Our goal is to develop tumor-targeted tracers that emit in the near IR range and penetrate deep into the tissue to make cancer cells visible.