Website The University of Sheffield
Details
DNA damaging therapies have been successful in treating cancer patients for decades. The standard of care therapy for many cancers include small molecule inhibitors, however these therapies have widespread side-effects including; nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity and neurotoxicity. Greater than 25% of patients report serious side effects. There is a need to reduce toxicity in therapies. This PhD will use cell penetrating peptides, that have been shown to target cancer cells and chemically link them to small molecules that induce DNA damage. The purpose is to make novel peptide-drugs that can deliver safe therapies to patients that are highly effective. The PhD will work in both chemistry, cell biology and molecular laboratories designing and testing novel drugs. The candidate can be from either chemistry or molecular biosciences backgrounds. The PhD will use pharmacology techniques, synthesis of complex molecules, cell biology, molecular biology assays, immunological staining of cancer cells and imaging.
Please apply for this project using this link: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/postgraduate/phd/apply/applying
Funding Notes
Self Funded or externally funded students only
References
Cirillo, S., et al., (2024) Antimicrobial peptide A9K as a gene delivery vector in cancer cells. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics. Volume 198,114244, May, doi:10.1016/j.ejpb.2024.114244
Hadianamrei, R., et al.,. (2023) Surfactant like peptides for targeted gene delivery to cancer cells. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 652:35-45 Apr doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2023.02.026
Cirillo, S., et al., (2021). Designed antitumor peptide for targeted siRNA delivery into cancer spheroids. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 13(42), 49713-49728. doi:10.1021/acsami.1c14761
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