معرفی
Michael S. Kay is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Utah. His research focuses on mirror-image (D-peptide) biology, antiviral/antibacterial drug discovery, and chemical protein synthesis. He leads projects spanning HIV entry inhibition to mirror-image synthetic biology, with affiliations in both the Molecular Biology and Biological Chemistry programs.
- Education: B.A. from Cornell University; M.D./Ph.D. from Stanford University
- Email: kay@biochem.utah.edu
Research Interests
Dr. Kay's lab develops D-peptides (mirror-image amino acid sequences) as therapeutics for infectious diseases and cancer. His work includes:
- High-throughput mirror-image phage display for drug discovery
- Resistance-capacitor designs to combat HIV mutations
- Chemical synthesis of large mirror-image proteins (e.g., 312-residue DapA)
- Tools like 'helping hands' and the Aligator software for protein synthesis
- Structural studies of viral fusion mechanisms (HIV, MERS-CoV, Ebolavirus)
Publication Trends
Dr. Kay's recent articles (2021–2025) emphasize:
- Advancing D-peptide HIV entry inhibitors (e.g., PIE12-trimer) for clinical translation
- Expanding mirror-image biology to new targets (MERS-CoV, Shiga toxin)
- Developing computational tools (e.g., BracketMaker) for protein synthesis
- Understanding evolutionary dynamics of host-pathogen interactions
- Optimizing solubilizing tags and ligation chemistry
- Mechanistic studies of viral resistance and chaperone-assisted folding
Labs & Collaborations
He directs a lab at the University of Utah focused on mirror-image therapeutics and synthetic biology, collaborating with experts in virology, structural biology, and microbiome research. His work bridges academic discovery (e.g., GroEL/ES chaperone studies) with translational applications (e.g., phase I clinical trials for HIV drugs).
