Drug Design with RFDiffusion
Project Description
In November 2024, the Baker lab, recipient of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, published their latest method, RFDiffusion, for designing macrocyclic peptide binders. The objective of this project to use RFDiffusion to design peptide binders for the following protein targets:
• IL-4R/IL-4 – Th2 immunity & allergy driver
• LAG3/L-Selectin – T-cell inhibition & lymphocyte trafficking
• PD-1/PD-L1 – Immune checkpoint in cancer
• IL-17A/IL-17RA – Pro-inflammatory cytokine in autoimmunity
• IL-4R/IL-4 – Th2 immunity & allergy driver
• LAG3/L-Selectin – T-cell inhibition & lymphocyte trafficking
• PD-1/PD-L1 – Immune checkpoint in cancer
• IL-17A/IL-17RA – Pro-inflammatory cytokine in autoimmunity
Supervisor
ZHANG Nevin Lianwen
Quota
2
Course type
UROP4100
Applicant's Roles
This project requires a basic understanding of biology, and the ability to install and run deep learning packages.
Applicant's Learning Objectives
You will gain hands-on experience running AI-driven drug design tools on GPUs, analyzing protein-binder interactions, and exploring the frontiers of computational biology.
Complexity of the project
Challenging