Welcome to TRABITA, the novel LOEWE-priority at the department of chemistry of the TU Darmstadt. Read further information about projects, work groups and the latest research.
Transient bindingpockets are key to develop drugs for targets that cannot be addressed by regular small chemical compounds. By using elusive binding pockets we can create new therapeutic pathways.
Usually, drug molecules bind to specific therapeutic target proteins and thereby regulate their activity. Those proteins remain in their native conformation, however they form transient binding pockets temporarily. Often, drugs targeting these transient binding pockets have higher selectivity amongst other advantages, but on the downsides they are harder to discover.
The interdisciplinary consortium TRABITA was founded to facilitate the development of new therapeutic drugs for transient binding pockets. The project is supported by the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art, i.e. the LOEWE-Funding.
The project is designed to last for four years and is coordinated by the TU Darmstadt. The close cooperation with scientists of the h_da and of the Goethe-University is essential for the success of the project.
To thoroughly investigate transient binding pockets interdisciplinary cooperation is necessary. Therefore, eleven work groups from three universities team up and contribute their know-how in biophysics, protein models an chemical tools to push the project forward.