Aproximació biotecnològica a les metal.loproteases

An overall research on metalloproteases -carboxypeptidases and endoproteases-, on their precursors and on their specific inhibitors, is proposed with different goals of biotechnological interest: redesign to improve their specificity, thermostability and renaturability, new procedure for their massive production by heterologous expression and quick purification, development and use of advanced biocomputerized procedures for their rational design and the simulation of their properties, design of specific inhibitors of potential pharmacological application, and use of these proteases and precursors as markers of pancreatic pathologies (mainly cancer). The research will be particularly focused on new carboxypeptidases and mutants obtained by genetic engineering procedures: carboxypeptidases A2 and B, mast cell carboxypeptidase, mitocondrial carboxypeptidase and carboxypeptidase-Taq. By X-ra