William C. Pomerantz, PhD
Associate Professor, McKnight Presidential Fellow, McKnight Land Grant Professor, Department of Chemistry
Contact
Office Address
328 Smith Hall
Minneapolis, MN 55455
United States
Lab Address
Smith Hall 408, 439, 445
Minneapolis, MN 55455
United States
Titles
Associate Professor, McKnight Presidential Fellow, McKnight Land Grant Professor, Department of Chemistry
Faculty, PhD Program in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics
Graduate Faculty, Department of Medicinal Chemistry
Education
PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2008
BS, Chemistry, Ithaca College, 2002
Fellowships
Fulbright Fellow, ETH, Zürich, 2002-2003
Biography
Bio
Research in our group focuses on modulating protein-protein interactions through the use of small molecules and bio-inspired peptide scaffolds. By controlling such processes using synthetic molecules that we make in the laboratory, we seek to develop new chemical probes for understanding the underlying biology of protein-protein interactions in disease and ultimately novel therapeutics. Within this interdisciplinary research program, we combine techniques in organic synthesis, biophysics, biochemistry and molecular biology to study the role epigenetic regulatory proteins play in disease.Our current focus is on developing chemical probes for modulating protein-protein interactions of bromodomain-containing proteins, Brd4 and BPTF.
Our research program exploits the bio-orthogonality and the hypersensitivity of fluorine as an NMR probe for providing structural inforatmion of protein interfaces and for use as a tool for small molecule screening in the area of fragment-based drug discovery. As a new direction, we have also begun to use highly fluorinated molecules for design of new imaging agents for 19F MRI. Beyond 19F NMR, This research is complemented with established spectroscopic techniques, organic synthesis of chemical probes, and new peptide-based strategies for pre-organization and cellular delivery for studying challenging epigenetic proteins under physiological conditions.
Expertise
Chemical biology, biophysics, epigenetics, medicinal chemistry
Awards & Recognition
- F32 NIH postdoctoral Research Fellow
- 2016 Chemical Biology Rising Star Award
- McKnight Land Grant Assistant Professor
Professional Associations
- American Chemical Society
- American Peptide Society
Research Summary
Research in our group focuses on modulating protein-protein interactions through the use of small molecules and bio-inspired peptide scaffolds. By controlling such processes using synthetic molecules that we make in the laboratory, we seek to develop new chemical probes for understanding the underlying biology of protein-protein interactions in disease and ultimately novel therapeutics. Within this interdisciplinary research program, we combine techniques in organic synthesis, biophysics, biochemistry and molecular biology to investigate the folding/misfolding and disease pathways of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). Our research program exploits the bio-orthogonality and the hypersensitivity of fluorine as an NMR probe for exploring important protein-protein interactions of IDPs. Our ultimate goal is to study these proteins in their native environment – whole cells – using 19F NMR. This research is complemented with established spectroscopic techniques, organic synthesis of chemical probes, and new peptide-based strategies for pre-organization and cellular delivery for studying challenging IDPs under physiological conditions.