Mathew Bogyo

Mathew Bogyo (Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA)

 Resume: Dr. Bogyo received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1997. After completion of his degree he was appointed as a Faculty Fellow in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Bogyo served as the Head of Chemical Proteomics at Celera Genomics from 2001 to 2003 while maintaining an Adjunct Faculty appointment at UCSF. In the Summer of 2003 Dr. Bogyo joined the Department of Pathology at Stanford Medical School and was appointed as a faculty member in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology in 2004. He was promoted to the rank of Professor in 2012. His interests are focused on the use of chemistry to study the role of proteases in human disease. In particular his laboratory is working on understanding the role of cysteine proteases in tumorgenesis and also in the life cycle of the human parasites, Plasmodium falciparum and Toxoplasma gondii. Dr. Bogyo currently serves on the Editorial Board of Biochemical Journal, Chemistry and Biology. Molecular and Cellular Proteomics and is an Academic Editor at PLoS One. Dr. Bogyo is a consultant for several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies in the Bay Area.

Using small molecules to study protease function: applications to parasites, cancer and inflammation

Proteases are enzymes that primarily function by degrading protein substrates. Since this process is irreversible, proteases must be carefully regulated within cells and organisms in order to prevent undesired consequences. Furthermore, proteases often play pathogenic roles in common human diseases such as cancer, asthma, arthritis and atherosclerosis. Over the past decade, my laboratory has developed a series of small molecule activity-based probes (ABPs) that specifically bind to the active form of protease targets through an enzyme catalyzed chemical reaction. These reagents can be used to enrich complex proteomic samples for monitoring of global patterns of protease activity as well as to directly image protease activity in live cells and whole animals. They can also be used to monitor the efficacy and selectivity of small molecule drugs. We are currently applying these probes to study the role of specific proteases in tumor growth and metastasis in mouse models of cancer as well as during the process of inflammation in mouse models of atherosclerosis, asthma and pulmonary fibrosis. In addition, we have applied covalent small molecules to identify important regulators of parasite pathogenesis. Recent advances in these projects will be presented.