Adrian Whitty

The Whitty Group studies protein-protein and protein-ligand recognition, with an emphasis on how binding energy from these intermolecular interactions can be utilized to achieve biological function or inhibition. We apply this research in two distinct areas: (i) developing a quantitative, mechanistic understanding of the activation and signaling of growth factor receptors, and (ii) advancing our ability to discover drugs that inhibit protein-protein interactions.

• Activation and signaling mechanisms in growth factor receptor systems. This work aims to address longstanding mechanistic questions concerning exactly how the binding of a cytokine or growth factor brings about an activated state of its receptor, and how the assembly of the activated receptor complex is quantitatively coupled to proximal and distal signaling events and to the ultimate cellular response (See Schlee et al., Nature Chemical Biology, 2006).
• Discovery and characterization of small molecule (i.e. synthetic organic) inhibitors of protein-protein interactions. We aim to develop new approaches to this difficult problem, based on achieving a better understanding of what structural and physicochemical properties at protein-protein interfaces are important for inhibitor binding, and what kinds of novel chemical structures are best suited to exploit these features. Projects in this area are carried out in collaboration multiple other groups encompassing computational chemistry (Prof. Vajda), organic synthesis (Profs. Porco, Beeler, CMLD-BU; Prof. Pollastri, Northeastern U.), X-ray crystallography (Prof. Allen) and Biology (Prof. Gilmore, BU Department of Biology).

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