Newsletter - Vol. 2 No. 4, Dec. 2011

NEWS from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Vol.2 No.4, December 2011

Contents: Announcements, Honors and Awards, Contracts, Grants, Papers Published, Invited Presentations, Patents, What's New, Alumni News

Announcements

East China Normal University signs MOU with University of Maryland, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

President Lizhong Yu of East China Normal University traveled to the University of Maryland October 5th to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreement with President Wallace Loh. The goal of this MOU is to promote cooperation and exchange between the two universities. Plans have been developed for a dual degree program in chemistry and biochemistry between UMD and ECNU. The dual degree program will allow highly capable students who have advanced to candidacy at ECNU to apply to the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry to complete their Ph.D. research. This research may be in association or collaboration with laboratories from both institutions and funding for this is expected to be provided in part by a government fellowship that is supplemented by the research mentor at Maryland.

Lyle Isaacs Wins 2011 Bioscience Day Professor Venture Fair

Lyle Isaacs' group in collaboration with Volker Briken's group (Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics) won the Professor Venture Fair for best invention for their creation of "Molecular Containers that Solubilize and Deliver Insoluble Pharmaceutical Agents." Dr. Isaacs' invention was chosen as the top from the six inventions selected by the University's Office of Technology Commercialization to compete in this year's Bioscience Day: Next Generation Research in Infectious Diseases. The Professor Venture Fair began at Bioscience Day 2007 and is an annual event that gives faculty inventors the opportunity to pitch their new technologies to a team of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs from the region.

December Graduation

Congratulations to our talented December Graduates upon completing their degrees:

Masters Graduates:

Sonja Gamby - CHEM; advisor Herman Sintim, thesis - "Structural Variants of AI-2 to Probe Bacterial Quorum Sensing in Diverse Bacteria"
Andrea Andrews - CHEM; advisor Neil Blough; remaining in the program to enter Ph.D
Ed Sisco - CHEM; advisor Alice Mignerey; remaining in the program to enter Ph.D

Ph.D. Graduates:

Derrick Lucas - CHEM; advisor Lyle Isaacs, thesis - "Templated Synthesis of Glycoluril Oligomers and Monofunctionalized CB6 Derivatives"
Deana Jaber - CHEM; advisor Michael Doyle, thesis - "Rh(II)-Catalyzed Reactions of C-H Insertion and Oxonium Ylide Generation"
Vatsala Sagar - BCHM; advisor Nicole LaRonde-LeBlanc, thesis - "Structural Studies of the Atypical RI02 Kinases and N-Acetyl-l-Glutamate Sythase"
Kristine Crawford - CHEM; advisor Frederick Khachik, thesis - "Total Synthesis of an Oxidation Product & Gamma-Carotene-a Pro-Vitamin A Food Carotenoid"
Irene Kiburu - CHEM; advisor Nicole LaRonde-LeBlanc, thesis - "Structural and Biochemical Studies of Atypical Riol Kinase"
Yang Liu - CHEM; advisor Steven Rokita, thesis - "Target Alkylation of Single and Double Strand DNA by Peptide Nucleic Acids"
Kathy Goodson - BCHM; advisor Jason Kahn, thesis - "Lacl-DNA-IPTG Loops: Equilibria among Conformations by Single-Molecule FRET"

Grants

Alice Mignerey was awarded a one year grant (10/26/2011 - 09/30/2012) for $67,016 for her project "Nuclear Forensics: Production and Provenance Determinations Using Fissogenic Isotopic Abundance" sponsored by the Savannah River Nuclear Solutions.

David Fushman was awarded a continuing grant (09/15/2011 - 08/31/2012) for $358,099, sponsored by NIH-National Institute of General Medical Sciences for his project "Recognition of Non-Ubiquitin Signals by the Proteasome." Dr. Fushman was awarded a second continuing grant (10/26/2011 - 09/30/2012) for $295,195, by NIH-NIGMS for his project "Solution Structure and Dynamics of Polyubiquitin Chains." Professor Fushman is the first CHEM/BCHM faculty member in more than ten years to have concurrent NIH R01 grants.

Awards/Honors

Zhihong Nie was awarded the Research and Scholarship Award for Summer 2012 from the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences, UMD, for his project "Controllable Synthesis of Hierarchical Polymer/Metal Hybrid Nanostructures." The award for $9,000 is given to promote the development of promising projects. Dr. Nie was also awarded the K. C. Wong Research Award 2011, sponsored by the K. C. Wong Education Foundation in Hong Kong, to initiate international research collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). This award supports collaborative projects with CAS and associated travel expenses up to $3,200. The duration of the award is one year.

Andrea Andrew, Ph.D. Candidate with Neil Blough, received the first prize of $200 for her poster "Optical Properties and Potential Origin of Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) From the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean" at the 2011 NOBCChE South East Regional Conference, which was held at Auburn University on November 11 and 12.

Geraldine Onyinyechi Echebiri, Ph.D. Candidate with Amy Mullin, was the recipient of the 2011 NOBCChE-Metro DC Chapter award for presentation at the NOBCChE South East Regional Conference on November 11 and 12. Geraldine also placed third for the poster presentation competition with her poster "Rotational Energy Ladders in Collisions of Highly Excited Molecules: Quantum State-Resolved Isotope Effects."

Yiling Luo, Ph.D. Candidate with T. Kwaku Dayie and Herman Sintim, won the Jenny T. Sih Graduate Student Award for the spring semester of 2012, in the amount of $8,729.00. . The Jenny T. Sih Endowed Memorial Scholarship was established in May 2010 by K. Y. Sih. This award provides annual support for graduate students who are enrolled in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Luigi Alvarado, Ph.D. Candidate with T. Kwaku Dayie, won the Graduate Student Best Poster
Presentation for his poster "Structural Biology of an RNA-Drug Complex: Quest for a Complementary Treatment of Anemia" in Biochemistry and Biophysics at this year's Bioscience Day: Next Generation Research in Infectious Diseases on November 10.

Patents

A US patent was issued to Catherine Fenselau and Bettina Warscheid for their invention "Analyzing and Distinguishing Organisms Such as Bacterial Spores by Their Soluble Polypeptides." (USPN 10/683,128)

Invited Presentations

Michael Doyle spoke on the "Challenges and Opportunities in the Sciences in a Time of Change" at Regis University, Denver, CO, September 23 (William T. Miller Lecture). Dr. Doyle also spoke on "The Magic of Dirhodium" at Rider University, Lawrenceville, NJ, November 3; and on "Dirhodium Catalysts for Highly Selective Syntheses" at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, November 8.

Michael Doyle attended the Chemical & Engineering News Advisory Board Meeting, October 19-20, in Washington, D.C. Chemical & Engineering News has had an advisory board since 1939 (Jan. 10, 1939 was the first issue in which C&EN listed an advisory board). Over the decades this board of distinguished people has expanded, reflecting growth in the scope and diversity of both the chemical enterprise and C&EN's readership, which now numbers 160,000 people worldwide. C&EN's current advisory board is composed of 27 men and women from industry, academia, government, and organizations in the nonprofit world. Advisers serve a three-year term and meet with C&EN staff to provide thoughtful advice and suggestions; they also bring noteworthy developments to the attention of C&EN staff.

Ross Salawitch spoke at a Renewable Energy Workshop at College Park City Hall on September 10. Dr. Salawitch was joined by Michael Heinz from the Maryland Energy Administration. Read about the workshop:
http://collegepark.patch.com/articles/residents-can-attend-free-clean-energy-workshop-on-saturday

Catherine Fenselau joined the "Enabling Bioanalytical and Imaging Technologies" NIH study section for the October 2011 review session. Dr. Fenselau served on the external review committee visiting the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department at Montana State University in October.

Garegin Papoian spoke at a Symposium on "DNA Search: from Biophysics to Cell Biology" in Safed, Israel on September 11. Dr. Papoian also spoke at the Mathematical Biosciences Institute (MBI) in Columbus, OH, October 24, on "Physico-Chemical Simulations of Eukaryotic Cell Motility"; and at the 17th International Biophysics Congress in Beijing, China, October 30, on "Mesoscopic Physics of Eukaryotic Cell Motility." http://www.17ibc.org/.

Lyle Isaacs gave an invited presentation on "Nor-seco Cucurbit[n]uril Molecular Containers" at the Midwest-Great Lakes regional meeting of the American Chemical Society in St. Louis, MO on October 19 and 20.

T. Kwaku Dayie spoke on "Conformational Capture of Riboswitch Action: A Solution NMR Approach" at the Eastern Analytical Symposium and Exposition in Somerset, NJ, November 15.

David Fushman spoke at the "Challenges and Opportunities in Discovery, Translation, and Regulation of Biologic Therapeutics" Workshop, Institute for Bioscience & Biotechnology Research (IBBR) in Rockville, MD, December 1.

Zhihong Nie spoke at Kansas University, Department of Chemistry, on "Supracolloidal Physics and Chemistry" on December 1.

Tanjua Kashyap (David Fushman group) spoke at the University of Maryland / National Cancer Institute "NIH Partnership for Cancer Technology" Workshop in Bethesda, MD, on "Intricacies of E2-E3 interactions that mediate Mdm2 regulation of p53" November 10.

Jarrett Leeds (YuHuang Wang group and John Fourkas group) presented one of the six invited talks at the Professor Venture Fair on "Highly Concentrated Water Soluble Carbon Nanotube Ink" as part of Bioscience Day: Next Generation Research in Infectious Diseases on November 10. The invitation from the University's Office of Technology Commercialization provides faculty inventors the opportunity to pitch their new technologies to a team of venture capitalists and entrepreneurs from the region.

Papers Published

Doyle, M. P. "Silver Catalyzed Carbene Functionalization of Methane in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide" ChemCatChem 2011, 3, 1681-1682.

Xu, X.; Hu, W. H.; Doyle, M. P. "Divergent Outcomes from Catalysis by Dirhodium and Copper Separately or in Combination" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 11348-11351.

Wang, X.; Xu, X.; Doyle, M. P. "Asymmeric Formal [3+3] Cycloaddition Reactions of Nitrones with Electrophilic Vinylcarbene Intermediates" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 16402-16405.

Wang, X.; Ratnikov, M. O.; Zavalij, P. Y.; Doyle, M. P. "Multifunctionalized 3-Hydroxypyrroles in a Three-Step, One-Pot Cascade Process from Methyl 3-TBSO-2-diazo-3-butenoate and Nitrones" Org. Lett. 2011, 13, 6122-6125.

Deng, S.; Zhang, Y.; Brozena, A. H.; Mayes, M. L.; Banerjee, P.; Chiou, W. A.; Rubloff, G. W.; Schatz, G. C.; Wang Y. H. "Confined propagation of covalent chemical reactions on single-walled carbon nanotubes." Nature Communications 2011, 2:382. This research project led by Yu Huang Wang is also featured in several articles: Palucka, T. "Materials in Focus: Researchers control chemical functionalization along carbon nanotubes" Materials360: A Newsletter of the Materials Research Society, vol. 11 Issue 13. July 2011; Copeland, R. E. "Controlling chemistry improves potential of carbon nanotubes" University of Maryland Newsdesk, July 12, 2011; Johnson, D. "Carbon Nanotubes Get Functionalized Without Losing Key Characteristics." IEEE Spectrum, July 18, 2011.

Jiang, K.; Xue, C.; Arya, C.; Shao, C.; George, E. O.; DeVoe, D. L.; Raghavan, S. R. "A New Approach to In-Situ Micromanufacturing: Microfluidic Fabrication of Magnetic and Fluorescent Chains Using Chitosan Microparticles as Building Blocks" Small, 7, 17 2470-2476 (2011)

Savelyev, A.; Materese, C. K.; Papoian, G. A. "Is DNA's Rigidity Dominated by Electrostatic or Nonelectrostatic Interactions?" J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2011, 133 (48), pp 19290-19293; this was also covered in the press by "Chemistry World" at http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2011/November/16111102.asp.

Mazzola, E. P.; Parkinson, A.; Kennelly, E.J.; Coxon, B.; Einbond, L. S.; Freedberg, D. I.
"Utility of Coupled-HSQC Experiments in the Intact Structural Elucidation of Three Complex Saponins from Blighia sapida," Carbohydrate Research, 2011, 346, 759.

Connor, K. L.; Colabroy, K. L.; Gerratana, B. "A Heme Peroxidase with a Functional Role as an L-Tyrosine Hydroxylase in the Biosynthesis of Anthramycin" Biochemistry, 2011, 50, 8926-8936.

Lucas, D.; Minami, T.; Iannuzzi, G.; Cao, L.; Wittenberg, J. B.; Anzenbacher, P. Jr.; Isaacs, L. "Templated Synthesis of Glycoluril Hexamer and Mono-functionalized Cucurbit[6]uril Derivatives" J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2011, 133, 17966-17976.

Arthur, P. K.; Alvarado, L. J.; Dayie, T. K. "Expression, Purification, and Characterization of Recombinant Proteins from the Pentose Phosphate Pathway for Making Selectively Labeled Nucleotides" Protein Expression and Purification, 2011, 76: 229-237.

Luo, Y.; Sintim, H. O.; Dayie, T. K. "RNAs synthesized using photocleavable biotinylated nucleotides have dramatically improved catalytic efficiency" Nucleic Acids Research, 2011, 39:8559-8571.

Thakur, C. S.; Dayie, T. K. "Asymmetry of ¹³C labeled 3-pyruvate affords improved site specific labeling of RNA for NMR spectroscopy" J. Biomol NMR, 2011, 51:505-517.

Fushman, D.; Wilkinson, K. D. "Structure and recognition of polyubiquitin chains of different lengths and linkage" F1000 Biol Rep, 2010, 3:26

Castañeda, C. A.; Spasser, L.; Bavikar, S. N.; Brik, A.; Fushman, D. "Segmental Isotopic Labeling of Ubiquitin Chains to Unravel Monomer- Specific Molecular Behavior" Angew Chem Int Ed Engl, 2011, 50, 11210-11214.

Castañeda, C. A.; Liu, J.; Chaturvedi, A.; Nowicka, U.; Cropp, T. A.; Fushman, D. "Nonenzymatic Assembly of Natural Polyubiquitin Chains of Any Linkage Composition and Isotopic Labeling Scheme" J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2011, 133, 17855-17868.

Wu, G.; Gan, Z.; Kwan, I. C. M.; Fettinger, J. C.; Davis, J. T. "High-Resolution 39K NMR Spectroscopy of Bio-organic Solids." J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2011, 133 (49), 19570-19573. This paper will be featured on the cover of the December 14 issue, #49.

He, J.; Hourwitz, M. J.; Liu, Y. J.; Perez, M. T.; Nie, Z. H. "One-pot facile synthesis of Janus particles with tailored shape and functionality" Chemical Communications, 2011, 47, 12450-12452.

Ross Salawitch was quoted in an article titled "Canada's Ozone Tracking in Jeopardy" published on-line September 16 by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, regarding the implications of a possible shutdown of the Canadian ozone monitoring system by the Environment Canada (EC) agency: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/09/16/environment-ozone-monitoring.html. Dr. Salawitch was also quoted in an article titled "Arctic Ozone Loss in 2011 Unprecedented" that appeared in Science News, Nov. 19, 2011, vol. 180, #11.

What's New

For a second year in a row the University of Maryland Libraries are offering up to 3 awards of $1,000 each to undergraduate students who demonstrate sophisticated research by robust use of information resources and library services for a paper or project completed in the calendar year 2011. Applications will be accepted starting January 2, 2012. The deadline for submission is March 1, 2012. For information on how to apply visit http://libraries.umd.edu/libraryaward/. Contact Nedelina Tchangalova (nedelina@umd.edu) or Patti Cossard (pcossard@umd.edu ) with any questions.

The Graduate Student Organization held their first annual Chili Cook-off dinner on November 18th in the Atrium. Approximately eighty people were in attendance to socialize and cast their vote for the best tasting chili. Congratulations to Wes Farrell, who created the winning chili "Red Hot Chili Peppers." The popular event was organized by GSO president Brittany Wheeler and vice president Ed Sisco.

Alumni News

Paul Mantica, Professor of Chemistry and Associate Director for Operations, was awarded a University Distinguished Professorship at Michigan State University. Dr. Mantica is a 1990 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Ph.D. graduate and was advised by William Walters. Dr. Mantica also became a member of the Fellows of the American Chemical Society.

Hojun Li, Chemistry Class of 2005, recently earned his Ph.D. and MD from the University of Pennsylvania. While at Maryland Hojun was an HHMI fellow in the Jeffery Davis lab. Hojun is first author on a Nature paper that is attracting attention from people interested in treatments for hemophilia. Read about Hojun's research at: http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/06/27/dna-snipping-enzymes-cure-hemophilia-in-mice/