Congratulations to Prof. Peter Crowley, University of Galway on receiving SSPC’s Director’s Award for Research Article of the Year 2021 for the publication – ‘Facile Fabrication of Protein-Macrocycle Frameworks’, by Kiefer O. Ramberg, Sylvain Engilberge, Tomasz Skorek and Peter B. Crowley in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
In their article Peter Crowley and co-workers demonstrated how protein frameworks can be engineered by using a commercially-available molecule called sulfonato-calix[8]arene. This cyclic molecule can stick to the protein surface and act like a scaffold to bind other proteins, resulting in assembly. Different techniques including X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy were used to demonstrate protein – calixarene binding and assembly. These protein – calixarene frameworks may have applications in biomaterial design and fabrication.
Peter Crowley is professor of protein chemistry in the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at the University of Galway, and a funded investigator in SSPC’s Manufacturing theme. He is a graduate of University College Dublin and Leiden University, the Netherlands.
His research interests include molecular recognition, protein assembly, structural biology and protein-based materials.
Ramberg, K. O., Engilberge, S., Skorek, T. & Crowley, P. B. ‘Facile Fabrication of Protein-Macrocycle Frameworks’ J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 43, 1896–1907.
