We are constantly looking for new students and researchers, so drop me a line at ObscureMyEmail if you’re interested in what we do and would like to know more about our work and positions available.

Welcome!

Welcome to the website of Prof. M. Eugenio Vázquez at CiQUS!.

Over the last few years there has been an enormous development in the field of Chemical Biology, to the point that most problems in biology can now be approached from a molecular perspective. As Arthur Kornberg said: “Much of life can be understood in rational terms if expressed in the language of chemistry” 1. Indeed, the spectacular achievements in biology have been made possible by the developments in chemical sciences, which provide the means for synthesizing, characterizing and selectively modifying increasingly complex systems.
Much of life can be understood in rational terms if expressed in the language of chemistry. It is an international language, a language for all of time, and a language that explains where we came from, what we are, and where the physical world will allow us to go.
Arthur Kornberg
As peptide engineers, we aim to use peptides as platforms to explore fundamental problems at the interface of Chemistry and Biology, particularly in the areas of bimolecular recognition and sensing, through a multidisciplinary approach involving a combination of chemical synthesis, biophysical and biochemical methods, and computational chemistry. More specifically, our work has focused on three main topics:
  • The synergistic integration of coordination chemistry and peptide engineering to construct new supramolecular assemblies with biological activity, particularly new DNA-binding agents that target non-canonical structures (G-quadruplex and three-way junctions).
  • The development of new fluorescent probes including small molecules, as well as designed peptides for the specific detection of relevant biomolecules (e.g, RNA, oncoproteins, kinases), as well as cellular processes.
  • The application of peptide engineering for the development of new materials, including templated metal nano clusters, conductive peptides—this within the framework of the e-Prot FET-OPEN project—and new biocompatible peptide catalysts.
  1. A. Kornberg Biochemistry, 1987, 26, 6888.