Grant
NERD grant of DKK 13 millions for Medicinal Chemistry
Professor Jasmin Mecinovic from the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy will primarily work with linker histones
The Novo Nordisk Foundation has granted DKK 13,209,000 for a project that will shed light on one of the human DNA histone proteins. The title of the project is “Understanding the Chemical Language of Linker Histones” and will contribute with knowledge for both academia and the pharmaceutical industry.
The project will address the way DNA is stored, unpacked, read and expressed in our bodys – both in healthy individuals and when we are sick. Although all human cells possess the same genes, that is the same primary sequence of DNA, we have more than 200 different types of cells. The differences between cells arise from many so-called epigenetic chemical modifications on histone proteins and DNA that together form the chromatosome, the repeating unit of human chromatin. The NERD project will focus on synthesis and investigations of linker histones, the least explored and understood human histones.
Several biologically important linker histones possessing specific modifications will be produced, defining essential histone-protein and histone-DNA interactions that contribute to the formation of the chromatin-like (super)structures. Due to the link between linker histones, their modifications and human diseases, this work will provide unique molecular toolbox required for basic mechanistic, structural and inhibition studies of linker histone modifications.
Knowledge of linker histones will contribute to the understanding of the development of cancer cells, and potentially help to develop personal medicine that will work on DNA level.
Profile
Jasmin Mecinovic is a professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy.