Organisers

Tony Kouzarides is the Royal Society Napier Professor, a chair endowed specifically for Cancer Research. He is a Senior Group Leader and deputy director of the Gurdon Institute at the University of Cambridge. His interests lie in chromatin modification and their role in transcription and cancer. He is a member of the European Molecular Biology organisation and a member of CRUK´s Science and Strategy Advisory Group. He is a co-founder of Chroma Therapeutics, a cancer drug discovery company with a focus on enzymes that modify chromatin and a co-founder and director of Abcam, an antibody reagents company.

From as early as 1985 my interest in PTM began with the study of the modification of protein glutamines by isopeptide-bound polyamines in health and disease and the role of transglutaminase (TG) in this process. This basic research led to the design and synthesis of: (1) synthetic haptens mimicking the isopeptide bond (2) the development of site specific methods for the covalent coupling of synthetic haptens to proteins to render them immunogenic,(3) immunochemical methods such as covalent enzyme linked immunoassays (CELIA) for measuring bound polyamines and the isopeptide cross-links : Nepsilon (gamma-glutamyl)lysine.

The experience gained in developing these tools served me in good stead when I founded CovalAb in 1995 for the development of antibodies directed against proteins, synthetic peptides and other PTM’s such as acetyl lysine, mono/di-methylarginine, citrulline … etc. Some of these antibodies such as anti-methyl arginine and anti-acetyl lysine are used primarily as research tools for investigating the mechanisms involved in controlling transcription. Others such as anti-citrulline and anti Nepsilon (gamma-glutamyl)lysin have found application in exploring pathologies as diverse as rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease, fibrosis, Alzheimer’s disease …

In the context of this meeting devoted to PTM there may be further clinical situations where the Abs already developed may find new applications or where new antibodies need to be developed to explore novel epiptopes.
Should this be the case, I (CovalAb) will be willing to enter into discussions with the interested parties.

Andy Bannister obtained his PhD at Sheffield University and then did post-doctoral research at the Quebec City Cancer Research Centre with Professor Tom Moss where he studied ribosomal gene transcription. Upon his return to the UK he joined the laboratory of Professor Tony Kouzarides in Cambridge to study the molecular mechanisms regulating gene transcription. He is currently a Senior Research Associate (funded by Cancer Research UK) investigating chromatin structure in the Wellcome Trust/Cancer Research UK Gurdon Institute, at the University of Cambridge.