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SUMMARY:ChemBio seminar by Dr. Anna Love - Scripps Institution of Oceanogr
 aphy\; UC San Diego - CH 637
DTSTART:20250704T161500
DTEND:20250704T171500
DTSTAMP:20260429T103235Z
UID:cf0ba3bec7174b0ad34a4dd01dcfbb84782cc8d2746705983898a660
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Dr. Anna Love\nTitle:\nBiosynthesis and biological mechanisms 
 of minor cannabinoids\n\nAbstract : \nThe study of natural products has en
 abled major insights into the biology of the brain\, from discovery of new
  classes of receptors\, to therapeutic starting points for neurological di
 sease. For example\, the endocannabinoid system\, a signalling network com
 prising two receptors and a handful of bioactive lipids\, was discovered t
 hrough investigations into the molecular basis for Cannabis psychoactivity
  from Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC). However\, much remains to be lea
 rned about plant cannabinoids (phytocannabinoids) beyond Δ9-THC and canna
 bidiol (CBD)\, two of >110 cannabinoids produced in plants\, and the physi
 ological intersections of endo- and phytocannabinoid biology\, including w
 hether such interactions can be taken advantage of for selective pharmacol
 ogical manipulation. First\, I will address access to plant cannabinoids b
 eyond Δ9-THC and CBD\, which are generated natively in low quantities\, a
 nd thus referred to as “minor cannabinoids.” I discovered that two mar
 ine bacterial flavoenzymes\, Clz9 and Tcz9\, possessed the unique ability 
 to perform electrocyclization chemistry to generate the minor cannabinoid\
 , cannabichromene (CBC) and analogues with high yield in bacteria. This pr
 ovides a complementary route to isolation or synthetic chemistry to access
  material. Structural and mechanistic analysis revealed unique biochemistr
 y governing the cannabinoid-cyclization chemistry of Clz9 and Tcz9\, and e
 stablished their utility as new members of the berberine-bridge like enzym
 e family. Complementary substrate-level engineering and active site restru
 cturing improved the stereoselectivity of CBC-formation\, providing enanti
 opure material. Further enzyme engineering efforts guided by a substrate-b
 ound structure and a high-throughput screening platform seek to repurpose 
 Clz9 and Tcz9 for production of cannabinoids beyond CBC\, including THC-ty
 pe and CBD-type cannabinoids\, establishing Clz9 and Tcz9 as promising bio
 catalysts for broad-scale cannabinoid production. Second\, I will discuss 
 how access to CBC-type cannabinoids has enabled discovery of new interacti
 on landscapes at the intersection of lipid signalling GPCR biology\, under
 scoring how much remains to be learned of both endo- and phytocannabinoid 
 biology. \n\nBiography:\nDr. Anna Love is an NIH Ruth Kirschstein-NRSA po
 stdoctoral fellow in Prof. Bradley Moore’s laboratory at the Scripps Ins
 titution of Oceanography at UCSD. Here\, she characterizes and engineers u
 nique enzymes involved in marine natural products biosynthesis for product
 ion of neuroactive small molecules\, and studies their effects in the brai
 n. Before her postdoctoral appointment\, Dr. Love completed graduate work 
 at the University of California\, Irvine in the lab of Prof. Jennifer Pres
 cher. Her doctoral thesis focused on developing new chemical tools and syn
 thetic biology strategies for non-invasive monitoring of biological proces
 ses. Her current research interests lie in co-opting natural products and 
 their biosynthetic machinery to evolve\, develop and apply new tool compou
 nds and therapeutics to expand our molecular understanding of neurological
  disease.\n 
LOCATION:CE 1 2 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==CE%201%202
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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