The Thorn-Seshold Research Group: Chemical Biology

**Our group is moving to TU Dresden in autumn 2024**

We use organic chemistry to create chemical biology reagents solving problems in cell biology and translational therapy. Our lab members have diverse backgrounds in chemistry, pharmaceutical sciences and biology, and work together to transition our molecules from the fume hood across traditional divides right through to the mouse house.

We strongly support our group members in their science and further development, and we are particularly proud of the awards and independent grants our group members are earning. Researchers will find a flexible and interdisciplinary environment to master skills from organic synthesis and cell biology to in vivo biology, and can take advantage of our collaborations with groups in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Sweden, USA, and France, as well as our involvement in several collaborative research networks.

Basic research into novel methods for selectively targeting bioactivity is the keystone of our group. The DFG has supported several lines of work, through an Emmy Noether grant (photochemical tools for tubulin biology) and consortia SFB1032 (spatiotemporal control in biophysical networks), SPP1926 (next-generation photopharmacology), and SFB152 for (chemical tools for TRP channels). Our imaging research is supported by Boehringer Ingelheim Stiftung.

Translating our research to application in cancer diagnosis and treatment is also an important goal for us. We have completed two translational medicine projects: BMBF GO-Bio project NanoCapture testing redox-targeted and cytoskeletal-modulating methods to selectively deliver therapeutics to tumors; and BMWi EXIST project CytoSwitch developing photoswitchable antimitotics for cancer therapy.

the Thorn-Seshold research group on excursion