The Elegance of the Molecule 2023 – Joint symposium IOCB Prague-KU Leuven

This is the 2^nd round of mutual IOCB & Rega Institute for Medical Research scientific meeting, based on a long-standing partnership and with a potential to continue and start new research collaborations.

Virology & Med Chem (9:00-12:00)

• Graciela Andrei: Need and challenges in the development of antiviral drugs against mpox virus and other poxviruses
• Petr Cígler: Lipid nanoparticles for broad-spectrum nucleic acid delivery
• Adéla Novotná: Structure based drug design targeting viral DNA polymerases
• Dirk Jochmans: Targets and Tools for SARS-CoV-2 Antivirals
• Dirk Daelemans: Discovery and functional characterisation of cellular host-factors for SARS-CoV-2 replication
• Edward A. Curtis: Exploring the functional potential of nucleic acids using artificial evolution

Med Chem – small molecules (13:45-15:00)

• Steven De Jonghe: The search for small molecule ligands for various chemokine G protein-coupled receptors
• Klára Grantz Šašková: Small-molecule activators of NRF1 transcriptional activity prevent protein aggregation
• Michal Hocek: Substituted and fused deazapurine nucleosides as cytostatics, antivirals and antiparasitics

Chemical and synthetic biology & Med Chem (9:00-12:00)

• Eveline Lescrinier: Journey towards a Fully Modified Aptamer
• Hana Macíčková Cahová: Non-canonical RNA caps - from their discovery to their role
• Kalyan Das: How Cryo-EM structures illustrate step-by-step yeast mitochondrial transcription initiation
• Elisabetta Groaz: Silencing the dark genome with antisense oligonucleotides for enhanced cancer therapies
• Michal Král: Identification and characterization of polymerase inhibitors of L-protein of Rift Valley fever virus
• Eva Kudová: Neurosteroids as novel modulators in bacterial infections – potential strategy against pathogens penetrating the central nervous system

Med Chem – small molecules (13:45-14:50)

• Gabriel Birkuš: Novel cGAS inhibitors for the treatment of autoinflammatory diseases
• Zlatko Janeba: Anti-inflammatory pyrimidines – MOA?