Bazbek Davletov

Biography

2012-present: Chair in Biomedical Science, Department of Biomedical Science, University of Sheffield, UK. 1998-2012: Programme Leader, Medical Research Council, The MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK. 1995-1997: Wellcome Trust Research Fellow, Imperial College, London. 1988-1991: Research Associate, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Moscow.

Research Interest

We are developing new technologies for delivery of biomedicinal enzymes into neurons. Neuronal disorders are a huge burden to our society and include many untreatable conditions such as chronic pain, epilepsy and neurodegeneration. We recently introduced a ‘protein stapling’ technique which potentially allows conjugation of any therapeutic enzyme to any proven cell-targeting agent. The advantage of this system is that it can incorporate other functionalities such as multiple targeting or endosome-disrupting agents.   We routinely generate new secretion- and translation-inhibiting biomedicines and characterise their functional effects on primary sensory neurons. Successful targeting and delivery into neurons will pave the way for utilization of known potent enzymes in treatment of neurological disorders. In addition, the results of this study will be important for the design of new multifunctional therapies encompassing antibodies, their fragments, small molecule drugs and siRNAs.