Dr. Olugbeminiyi Fadeyi

Mapping Cell-Cell Interactions in Tumor Microenvironment via Photocatalytic Proximity Labeling

Membrane proteins play essential roles in an extensive range of cellular functions.  One notable example is the surface interaction between immunomodulatory receptors (IMRs) to initiate and regulate immune responses.  The success in modulating these interactions with checkpoint inhibitors such as anti-PDL1/CTLA4 demonstrates the tremendous therapeutic value in understanding how IMRs interact and the impact of neighboring proteins on modulating IMR function.  Protein proximity labeling represents a powerful approach for the unbiased assessment of protein-protein interactions or bystander proteins with effector function on the cell surface.  A number of enzyme-based proximity labeling strategies have been developed over the last decade that either generate a reactive labeling species in proximity to the protein of interest, or physically "stamp" neighboring proteins.  The success of these approaches has led to the consideration of non-enzyme based methods that are smaller in size, can be temporally controlled, and/or can avoid harsh treatment conditions.  This talk will describe the development of novel photocatalytic-based proximity labeling approaches whereby protein residues are labeled in the presence of visible light and a photocatalyst.  Applications of this technology on the cell surface and within cell interaction environments will also be showcased.

Olugbeminiyi (Niyi) Fadeyi 

Originally from Nigeria, Niyi completed his B.Sc in Chemistry at Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria under the direction of Professor Craig Obafemi. Following his undergraduate studies, he worked for GlaxoSmithKline, Nigeria as a scientist and later moved to the US for graduate studies. He obtained his Masters in 2007 from Tennessee State University, under the direction of Prof.  Cosmas Okoro.

He continued on to the doctoral program at Vanderbilt University, where under the mentorship of Prof. Craig Lindsley, his research focused on developing new synthetic methodologies and application to towards natural products synthesis. In 2011, Niyi obtained his doctorate degree and joined Prof. Matthew Shair’s laboratories at the department of chemistry and chemical biology, Harvard University as a UNCF/Merck postdoctoral fellow. He joined Pfizer Inc., Groton in 2014, where he was a Principal Scientist with the Inflammation & Immunology-Rare Diseases division in World Wide Medicinal Chemistry. After 3 years at Pfizer, he joined Merck Exploratory Science Center as a Molecular Invention Scientist where he is developing a platform that integrates chemistry and biology to study novel mechanistic basis of human diseases to develop new therapeutics. 

Start date
Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021, 11:15 a.m.
End date
Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021, 12:15 p.m.
Location

Share