THE EUROPEAN PEPTIDE SOCIETY NEWSLETTER ISSUE NUMBER 55, MAY 2017 A Message from the EPS President Peptide Science in Belgium Peptide Science in Slovenia 34th European Peptide Symposium 6th Austrian Peptide Symposium 34th EPS Soccer Event Society News Published online by the Journal of Peptide Science The Official Journal of the European Peptide Society A Message from the EPS President Cover photo: Brussels, Belgium; City Hall, a Gothic building of the 15th century, located at the Grand Place. IN THIS ISSUE A Message from the EPS President . 2 Peptide Science in Belgium . 4 Peptide Science in Slovenia . 7 34th European Peptide Symposium . 9 6th Austrian Peptide Symposium . 14 34th EPS Soccer Event . 17 Society News . 24 Society Officers . 33 Calendar . 34 NEWSLETTER EDITOR Dear reader, our Society but also the longest-running Professor Krzysztof Rolka Faculty of Chemistry peptide-related conference worldwide. We University of Gdansk t is my pleasure to greet again the EPS are justly proud of this EPS tradition, in PL-80-308 Gdansk, Poland community through this first 2017 particular of its latest realization in the Tel: + 48 58 5235088 Fax: + 48 58 5235012 Iissue of the newsletter. Technical first-rate scientific meeting we could enjoy E-mail : [email protected] reasons have slightly delayed its at the delightful setting of Augusteum of appearance, but I hope that nonetheless Leipzig University. You will find a pre- SOCIETY NEWSLETTER you will enjoy the news about many cisely reported – and amply illustrated – This Newsletter is published in cooperation with the Journal of Peptide peptide-related activities that have taken chronicle by Prof. Annette Beck-Sickinger, Science twice a year and can be obtained place all over Europe during recent to whom (along with co-chair Prof. Ulf as a free PDF download from the European Peptide Society website at: months. Diederichsen, Georg-August University, www.eurpepsoc.com First and foremost, on pp. 9–13 you Göttingen) the Society is ever grateful for Journal of Peptide Science, the official journal of the European Peptide Society will find the official report on the 34th putting together an excellent scientific EPS, is an online journal published by European Peptide Symposium, held in program that was a premium showcase John Wiley & Sons Ltd on the Wiley Online Library as 12 issues each year. Leipzig, Germany, September 4–9, 2016. for peptide science worldwide. Information on and access to the journal This biennial event, this time also held as If, as I believe, Leipzig 2016 was a can be obtained at: wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jpepsci the 8th International Peptide Symposium, foretaste of good things to come, then we is not only the chief scientific activity of can look with optimism to future 2 Symposia editions. At the next one, (http://www.eurpepsoc.com/pool- 35EPS (soon to be announced online), writers/), a monthly section where recent we will celebrate that the European papers on specific peptide-related peptide community expands its borders to subjects are reviewed. Starting December Ireland (Dublin, August 26–31, 2018). 2016, six entries have already appeared Preparations by Symposium host Prof. covering current literature on topics such Chandralal Hewage are already well as daptomycin, cysteine, cyclic peptides, under way and we look forward to a very antimicrobial peptides, amyloid, and successful meeting. And, in 2020, the native chemical ligation. We are fortunate EPS will return to Spain (Sitges, near to count with a pool of very capable Barcelona, August 30–September 4), writers for this task, including Drs. Susan almost three decades after the 21EPS in Tzotzos (Apeptico, Vienna), George Platja d’Aro, a meeting still alive in the Preston (King’s College, London), Rosario memories of many EPS members. Dr. González-Muñiz (IQM-CSIC, Madrid), Meritxell Teixidó, the young and enter- Wenyi Li (Leibniz Institute, Berlin) and prising national representative of Spain, Can Araman (Institute of Chemistry, will chair the event and is already ahead Leiden), to all of whom the society is very with its planning. So save these dates in grateful for their generous contribution in your agenda and be ready for two exciting time, literature searching, and writing peptide gatherings ahead! skills. If you feel you could join this pool Also in this issue you will find of writers for the EPS website, I would interesting reports about peptide science encourage you to contact our communi- in Belgium and Slovenia; two countries cations officer – and editor of this with different histories and backgrounds Newsletter –, Prof. Krzysztof Rolka, with regard to peptide research, but [email protected]. currently with active scientific commu- In closing, I want to express my nities focused on peptide-related gratitude for your support of the EPS; also research. I am sure you will enjoy reading my hope that it will remain so over the about them. The issue is completed by a coming years, and my best wishes for report on the Sixth Austrian Peptide your scientific and professional advance- Symposium (December 1, 2016), plus ment, either on peptides (preferably!) or other society news. elsewhere. Other than to newsletter content, let me Enjoy this issue of the Newsletter! take the opportunity to call your attention David Andreu to a newly introduced feature in our Pompeu Fabra University website. I refer to “Peptide Highlights” Barcelona, Spain 3 Peptide Science in Belgium eptide science has already a long Prof. Van Binst organized a series of available furyl-alanine) to a reactive enal tradition in Belgium. Dr. Albert Symposia on Design, Synthesis and species in aqueous conditions have been PLoffet, one of the founding Structure of Peptidomimetics held in the developed. This allows for the straight- members of EPS, was the organizer of the city of Spa (1995–2001). For quite some forward, site-selective and bioorthogonal one and only European Peptide Sympo- years Belgium did not have a peptide labeling of peptides and further finds sium in Belgium, which took place in meeting until 2012, when the first applications in peptide-protein cross- Wépion in 1976 and was the EPS Belgian Peptide Group Meeting (BPGM) linking. Prof. Martins heads the NMR and Secretary from 1988 until 1994. A. Loffet was organized in the premises of Structure Analysis Group, which hosts a was then heading the Bioproducts Peptisyntha. Further BPGMs took place in 700 MHz interuniversity NMR facility and peptide company, a part of the large UCB Ghent (2014) and in Brussels (2016). is interested in the study of conformation company. Later, Bioproducts was headed These meetings allowed the groups and intermolecular interactions. Recent by Dr. A. Scarso, who left for Polypeptide currently involved in peptide research to studies using advanced NMR techniques Laboratories after Bioproducts was present their work and get to know each to understand the relationship between acquired by Lonza. The company, now other. The organisers are Prof. Steven structure, self-assembly and the anti- called Lonza Braine is one of the leaders Ballet and Dirk Tourwé (Vrije Universiteit microbial acitivity of cyclic lipodepsi- in large scale peptide production. Next to Brussel), Prof. Annemieke Madder and peptides were reported at the 34th EPS. Lonza Braine, Belgium hosts another José Martins (UGent) and Dr. Mimoun Together with Prof. Madder, synthesis world player in peptide production: Ayoub (Peptisyntha). The present over- strategies for exploring the mode of action Peptisyntha, now part of CordenPharma. view is based on contributions during the of lipopeptides are being developed . The origin of Peptisyntha stems from BPGM symposia. Prof. S. Ballet is the successor of Prof. research done by Dr. R. Callens in the Prof. A. Madder and J. Martins both emeritus D. Tourwé at the Department of group of Prof. M. Antheunis at the belong to the Department of Organic and Organic Chemistry of the Vrije Universiteit University of Ghent, using silylation of Macromolecular Chemistry of the Faculty Brussel (VUB). The research theme de- unprotected amino acids. of Sciences at UGent. The research of veloped by D. Tourwé on the development After the term of A. Loffet as Prof. Madder, head of the Organic and and use of conformationally constrained representative of Belgium in the EPS Biomimetic Chemistry group, concerns amino acids for the design of peptides Council, Prof. G. Van Binst (Vrije the use of multipodal (steroidal) scaffolds and peptidomimetics, is continued with Universiteit Brussel) took over from 1990 to preorganize helical peptide sequences the development of new scaffolds, for till 1998. He was one of the pioneers of for the design of serine protease mimetics instance based on Ugi multicomponent peptide conformational analysis in and DNA-binding peptides. Novel tech- condensations. Belgium and initiated research on con- niques for site-selective modification of New topics treated by S. Ballet are formation-directed peptide design, mainly biomacromolecules based on the oxida- injectable peptide hydrogels for sustained in the somatostatin field, peptide back- tion of a furan moiety (incorporated into release of bioactive peptides (in bone modifications and peptide mimetics. peptides by means of the commercially collaboration with A. Madder), multitarget 4 At the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KULeuven), the Division of Animal Physiology and Neurobiology of the Department of Biology hosts several peptide research teams. The group of Prof. L. Schoofs at the Research Group of Functional Genomics and Proteomics specializes in peptidomic technology to shorten from years to days the time required for identifying new (neuro) peptides, mainly in insects. The func- tional characterization of (neuro) peptides and the receptors they interact with are studied, as well as the signaling mechanism that leads to the release of immune induced peptides, synthesized by the insect to combat invading micro- The organisers of the Belgian Peptide Group Meetings (left to right): Prof. J. Martins, Prof.