BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Biomolecules in Tissue Engineering - Prof Richard Farndale\, Depar
 tment of Biochemistry
DTSTART:20081013T103000Z
DTEND:20081013T110000Z
UID:TALK14548@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Meera Arumugam
DESCRIPTION:Professor Richard Farndale is head of a Molecular Cell Biology
  group in the Department of Biochemistry. His work centers on understandin
 g how collagen\, the most abundant protein in the vertebrate organism\, in
 teracts with other proteins. Up to the last three or four years\, work has
  focused on the platelet collagen receptors\, integrin alpha2beta1 and Gly
 coprotein VI\, with a view to elucidating the processes which mediate thro
 mbus formation in coronary artery disease. Triple-helical peptides have be
 en synthesised whose sequence is specific for these receptors. Recently\, 
 triple-helical peptide libraries have been produced which embrace the whol
 e of the sequence of collagens II and III. These allow the binding of any 
 of collagen's many partners to be mapped systematically\, allowing identif
 ication of the sites that bind von Willebrand factor\, completing understa
 nding of the platelet-collagen interaction\, and the Discoidin Domain Rece
 ptor tyrosine kinases\, DDR1 and DDR2\, as well as other non-receptor spec
 ies\, including fibronectin and SPARC. This understanding allows specific 
 ligands for each of these species to be made\, although several of these s
 pecies have been found to bind hot-spots within the tropocollagen molecule
 . Peptides are now being designed with which to decorate matrix scaffolds 
 for tissue-engineering use\, and so enhance their interaction with the ext
 racellular matrix and cell-surface receptors.
LOCATION:Cripps Court\, Magdalene College
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR