Alanna Schepartz PhD

The Schepartz laboratory develops and applies chemical tools to study protein interactions and dynamics inside or between living cells. Our approach centers on the design and synthesis of molecules that nature chose not to synthesize – miniature proteins, β-peptides, and pro-fluorescent cell-permeable ligands - and the use of these molecules to probe questions in current biology that would otherwise be nearly impossible to address.
Current topics include the use of miniature proteins to rewire signaling networks that control cell motility and differentiation, the application of β-peptides to self-assemble protein-like quaternary structures entirely devoid of α-amino acids, and the development of small molecule fluorescence strategies to detect misfolded or unfolded proteins inside live cells.