Fall 09 Courses

Biochemistry I: Text Voet, Voet and Pratt, Fundamentals of Biochemistry 3rd ed.

Research in Biological Chemistry

We are currently developing inhibitors of a bacterial communication system called "quorum sensing". Quorum sensing involves the synthesis, secretion and detection of low molecular weight compounds called autoinducers.  Autoinducer receptors control bacterial gene expression and behavior.  Some bacterial behaviors regulated by quorum sensing have to do with pathogenesis, so blocking quorum sensing is of interest to produce new types of antibacterial compounds which are not lethal, and therefore should not promote antibiotic resistance.  Our group has projects to: 1) Synthesize inhibitors of autoinducer synthase enzymes; 2) Synthesize antagonists of autoinducer receptors; 3) Characterize secreted factors in Chromobacter violacium that are regulated by quorum sensing. 

We collaborate on this project with Bonnie Bassler, a microbiologist from Princeton who was recently on the science show NOVA talking about quorum sensing.

Other projects underway for students to work on include characterizing enzymes that have use in environmental remediation through catalytic dehalogenation of chlorinated organic molecules.  We also have begun a new project to identify enzymes that catalyze production of diesel-like molecules and developing bacterial strains that overproduce these molecules for biofuels.

Our research has been supported by the American Chemical Society and the Research Corporation.

Research Group Alumni

Undergraduate students in my lab often learn various techniques such as organic synthesis, basic molecular biology, protein expression/purification, enzymology, and microbiology.  Alumni have often gone on to graduate and medical schools. Below is a list of some of my former students and where they went after IC:

• Bryan Stefek- Medical School at New York Medical College
• Leona Leung- Medical School at the University of West Virginia
• Nicky Stephenson- PhD student in Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Mike MaCauley- Medical student at Penn State Medical School at Hershey
• Chris Roessler- PhD student in Biochemistry at the University of Arizona
• Mark Hedglin- PhD student in Chemical Biology at the University of Michigan
• Sam Oliver- PhD student in Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Keris KrennHrubec- MPH student at the University of Michigan
• Colleen O'Loughlin- PhD student in Molecular Biology at Princeton
• Mike Clarke- Medical student at the University of Minnesota
• Sarah Boyce- PhD student in Biochemistry at UCSF

Selected Publications

(*IC undergraduates)

Swem L, Swem D, O'Loughlin C*, Gatmaitman R*, Ulrich SM, Bassler B.  A Quorum Sensing Antagonist that Targets Both Membrane-Bound and Cytoplasmic Receptors Controls Bacterial Pathogenicity  Molecular Cell in press

Oehme I, Deubzer HE, Wegener D, Pickert D, Linke J, Hero B, Kopp-Schneider A, Westermann F, Ulrich SM, von Deimling A, Fischer M, and Olaf Witt. "Histone Deacetylase 8 in NeuroblastomaTumorigenesis" Clinical Cancer Research 91 15(1) January 1, 2009 link

Ulrich SM "Chemistry and Roles of Protein Kinases and Dephosphorylases" 2007 Wiley Encyclopedia of Chemical Biology link

KrennHrubec K*, Marshal B, Hedglin M*, Verdin E and Ulrich SM. "Design and Evaluation of Linkerless Hydroxamic Acids and Selective HDAC8 Inhibitors" 2007 March 30 Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters link

Bradley, Alexander Z.; Ulrich, Scott M.; Jones, Maitland, Jr.; Jones, Stephanie M.  "Teaching the Sophomore Organic Course without a Lecture. Are You Crazy?"  Journal of Chemical Education 2002, 79, 514. link

Presentations

1. "Chemical Inhibition of Cell-Cell Communication in Bacteria" Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 4/30/09
2. "Chemical Inhibition of Quorum Sensing Signaling in Chromobacterium violaceum" SUNY School of Environmental Science and Forestry, 2/27/09
3. "Chemical Inhibition of Bacterial Quorum Sensing" Colby College, 9/15/07
4. "Chemical Genetic Analysis of Histone Deacetylation" Hobart and William Smith Colleges, 9/22/05
5. "Peer-led, problem-based learning in organic chemistry", National ACS meeting, Phila PA, August 2004

By Ithaca College undergraduates:

1. Bryan Stefek "Characterization of toxic factors regulated by quorum sensing in Chromobacterium violacium" Rochester section of the American Chemical Society, April 2009
2. Colleen O'Loughlin "Design and synthesis of electrophilic LuxS inhibitors" ACS National Meeting, Chicago, March 2007
3. Keris KrennHrubec "Design and Evaluation of Linkerless Hydroxamic Acids and Selective HDAC8 Inhibitors" ACS National Meeting, Chicago, March 2007
4. Colleen O'Loughlin: "Peptidoglycan Deacetylase 'PgdA' as a New Antibiotic Drug Target" West Nottingham Academy, May 2006
5. Keris KrennHrubec: "Development of HDAC8-selective inhibitors" Ithaca College Whalen Symposium, April 2006.
6. Nicky Stephenson and Mike MaCauley: "LuxS as an antibacterial drug target." National ACS Meeting, San Diego March 2005
7. Mark Hedglin: "Engineering drug sensitive HDAC alleles" National ACS Meeting, San Diego March 2005
8. Nicky Stephenson: "LuxS as an antibacterial drug target." Rochester Academy of Sciences
   November 2003.
9. Chris Roessler: "Development of allele-specific histone deacetylase inhibitors." C-STEP State Meeting, Lake George, NY, April 2004.