Viena Thomas

Advancing small molecule discovery for the identification of covalent modulators that can further our understanding of complex biochemical is the aim of this project. In particular, we aim to design, synthesize, and develop electrophilic scaffolds as potential small molecule modulators of protein function. Naturally occurring disulfides are a particular type of electrophilic chemotype that exists within a number of bioactive natural products and peptides. In proteins, these privileged architectures have innate properties that improve both chemical and biological stability, contribute to maintaining native structure even under extreme environments, and play a role in the regulation of protein activity. These properties have greatly enhanced their potential for probes design that can ultimately lead to drug candidates