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The Bernardes Group

Professor Gonçalo Bernardes

Professor of Chemical Biology

Gonçalo Bernardes is a Professor of Chemical Biology & a Fellow of Trinity Hall College, Cambridge.

What we do

Nature has its own machinery for modifying the structure of proteins. In our research, we’re attempting to mimic this machinery to gain significant therapeutic benefits. We’re engineering chemical reactions that enable us to modify proteins while allowing to choose the precise location in the protein’s structure where we want to install these modifications.

This work has a whole range of applications. For example, we’re currently developing ways of selectively labelling proteins in living cells: this can help us monitor the proteins associated with particular diseases without interfering either with the protein’s structure, function, activity and location or upsetting the cell’s normal functions. Another important potential application for this work is linking cytotoxic drug molecules (molecules that are poisonous to cells) to antibodies and then using the antibody to deliver the drug in a very targeted way to the diseased tissue. This could improve the effectiveness of cancer treatments and reduce their side effects.

These are two examples from among our lines of research that use site-selective and bioorthogonal chemistry to address challenges in biology and medicine. We hope our methods may in future be used in laboratories around the world to help develop new drugs with improved effectiveness and reduced side-effects for some of the most common diseases such as cancer.

Funding

We are funded by the Royal Society, by UKRI (EPSRC) and by the European Commission (Marie Sklodowska Curie actions & European Research Council)

For further information on our research and for opportunities, please check our research group website.

Watch Professor Bernardes discuss his research

Take a tour of the Bernardes Lab

Publications

Site-selective protein-modification chemistry for basic biology and drug development.
N Krall, FP da Cruz, O Boutureira, GJL Bernardes
– Nature chemistry
(2015)
8,
103
(doi: 10.1038/NCHEM.2393)
Sulfur-Limonene Polysulfide: A Material Synthesized Entirely from Industrial By-Products and Its Use in Removing Toxic Metals from Water and Soil.
MP Crockett, AM Evans, MJH Worthington, IS Albuquerque, AD Slattery, CT Gibson, JA Campbell, DA Lewis, GJL Bernardes, JM Chalker
– Angew Chem Int Ed Engl
(2015)
55,
1714
(doi: 10.1002/anie.201508708)
An N-Acetyl Cysteine Ruthenium Tricarbonyl Conjugate Enables Simultaneous Release of CO and Ablation of Reactive Oxygen Species.
JD Seixas, M Chaves-Ferreira, D Montes-Grajales, AM Gonçalves, AR Marques, LM Saraiva, J Olivero-Verbel, CC Romão, GJL Bernardes
– Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)
(2015)
21,
14708
(doi: 10.1002/chem.201502474)
Peptide Anchor for Folate-Targeted Liposomal Delivery.
E Nogueira, IC Mangialavori, A Loureiro, NG Azoia, MP Sárria, P Nogueira, J Freitas, J Härmark, U Shimanovich, A Rollett, G Lacroix, GJL Bernardes, G Guebitz, H Hebert, A Moreira, AM Carmo, JPFC Rossi, AC Gomes, A Preto, A Cavaco-Paulo
– Biomacromolecules
(2015)
16,
2904
(doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.5b00823)
Deciphering the Non-Equivalence of Serine and Threonine O-Glycosylation Points: Implications for Molecular Recognition of the Tn Antigen by an anti-MUC1 Antibody
N Martínez-Sáez, J Castro-Lõpez, J Valero-González, D Madariaga, I Compañõn, VJ Somovilla, M Salvadõ, JL Asensio, J Jiménez-Barbero, A Avenoza, JH Busto, GJL Bernardes, JM Peregrina, R Hurtado-Guerrero, F Corzana
– Angewandte Chemie - International Edition
(2015)
54,
9830
(doi: 10.1002/anie.201502813)
Size controlled protein nanoemulsions for active targeting of folate receptor positive cells
A Loureiro, E Nogueira, NG Azoia, MP Sárria, AS Abreu, U Shimanovich, A Rollett, J Härmark, H Hebert, G Guebitz, GJL Bernardes, A Preto, AC Gomes, A Cavaco-Paulo
– Colloids and Surfaces B Biointerfaces
(2015)
135,
90
(doi: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2015.06.073)
Deciphering the Non-Equivalence of Serine and Threonine O-glycosylation Points: Implications for Molecular Recognition of the Tn Antigen by an anti-MUC1 Antibody
N Martínez-Sáez, J Castro-López, J Valero-González, D Madariaga, I Compañón, VJ Somovilla, M Salvadó, JL Asensio, J Jiménez-Barbero, A Avenoza, JH Busto, GJL Bernardes, JM Peregrina, R Hurtado-Guerrero, F Corzana
– Angewandte Chemie International Edition
(2015)
54,
9830
(doi: 10.1002/anie.201502813)
Synthesis of Fluorosugar Reagents for the Construction of Well-Defined Fluoroglycoproteins
M Salvadó, B Amgarten, S Castillón, GJL Bernardes, O Boutureira
– Org Lett
(2015)
17,
2836
(doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.5b01259)
Dynamic interplay between catalytic and lectin domains of GalNAc-transferases modulates protein O-glycosylation
E Lira-Navarrete, M de Las Rivas, I Compañón, MC Pallarés, Y Kong, J Iglesias-Fernández, GJL Bernardes, JM Peregrina, C Rovira, P Bernadó, P Bruscolini, H Clausen, A Lostao, F Corzana, R Hurtado-Guerrero
– Nature communications
(2015)
6,
6937
(doi: 10.1038/ncomms7937)
Folic acid-tagged protein nanoemulsions loaded with CORM-2 enhance the survival of mice bearing subcutaneous A20 lymphoma tumors.
A Loureiro, GJL Bernardes, U Shimanovich, MP Sárria, E Nogueira, A Preto, AC Gomes, A Cavaco-Paulo
– Nanomedicine Nanotechnology Biology and Medicine
(2015)
11,
1077
(doi: 10.1016/j.nano.2015.02.022)
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Head of group

Research Interest Groups

Synthesis
Biological

Telephone number

01223 336305

Email address

College

Trinity Hall

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