Johanna WATLY
Assistant Professor (PhD)
Research Activities
My scientific experience revolves around coordination chemistry, biochemistry and biophysics and focuses on finding the relationship between the structure, coordination mode, thermodynamic stability and biological properties of peptides of natural origin.
During my PhD studies, I investigated the characteristics of the interactions of metal ions with peptides containing His-tag motifs and their role in snake venoms. During my postdoctoral internship at the Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wrocław, I determined the coordination and structural properties of phytochelatin complexes with Cd(II) and Zn(II) ions. During my next post-doc internship, I focused on understanding the relationship between coordination chemistry, structure, thermodynamics and the mode of action of antimicrobial peptide complexes with metal ions. Actually, I am PI in the NCN OPUS 2021/41/B/ST4/02654 project: \\\"Small, well-armed fighters vs. powerful, devastating enemies - modified peptide complexes from human saliva in the fight against pathogenic microbes\\\" and I am looking for metabolically stable peptidomimetic analogues of saliva antimicrobial peptides with antimicrobial properties enhanced by the coordination of metal ions.
Expertise
I have experience in solution thermodynamics of metal-peptide complexes ; technique-wise; we use potentiometry; ITC; MS; fluorescence;NMR; CD; UV-Vis; EPR spectroscopy to establish metal binding sites in proteins and peptides.Research Areas
Metal-binding Peptides in HealthAffiliations
- The Biologically Active Metallopeptides Group – University of Wrocław Wrocław, Poland