Date of Thesis
Spring 2023
Description
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death around the world. However, progress in the development of novel treatments has proven difficult. By adding one of the most commonly used chemotherapeutics, cisplatin, to a peptide scaffold designed to bind and inhibit a protein, our goal is to create a platinum-peptide conjugate that inhibits the growth of cancer cells in two ways by delivering both cisplatin and a short peptide inhibitor of Lysine Specific Demethylase 1 (LSD1) in a single drug. The anticipated advantages of this approach include decreasing the cytotoxicity of traditional cisplatin treatment,1 preventing the degradation of the peptide in the biological environment,2 and increasing the overall efficacy of the drug in the treatment of cancer by combining two different therapeutic approaches in a single drug. In this thesis, I discuss the expression and purification of the target protein, LSD1, in addition to the synthetic steps undertaken to link the cisplatin molecule to the peptide backbone.
Keywords
Biochemistry, Peptides, Platinum therapeutics
Access Type
Honors Thesis (Bucknell Access Only)
Degree Type
Bachelor of Science
Major
Cell Biology/Biochemistry
First Advisor
Sarah J. Smith
Recommended Citation
Goepfert-Waterman, Elliot, "Design and Synthesis of a Two-Pronged Therapeutic Targeting LSD1" (2023). Honors Theses. 658.
https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/honors_theses/658