Vederas, John C - University of Alberta

个人简介

Dr. John C. Vederas is Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry. He obtained a B.Sc. in Chemistry from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry (synthesis) with the late George Büchi from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His postdoctoral work at the University of Basel (with Christoph Tamm) and at Purdue University (with Heinz Floss) inspired a continuing interest in application of organic chemistry to understanding of biological mechanisms, especially in polyketide and peptide biosynthesis. He has received recognition for research and teaching from the University of Alberta, including the Rutherford Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (1995), the University Cup for Research and Teaching (1998), the J. Gordin Kaplan Award for Excellence in Research (2003), the Killam Award for Excellence in Mentoring (2003) and the Klawe Prize in Teaching Large Classes (2006). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1997) and an Alberta Centennial Medal recipient (2006). He has received the Merck Sharp Dohme Award (1986), the John Labatt Award (1991), the R. U. Lemieux Award (2002) and the Alfred Bader Award (2005) from the Canadian Society for Chemistry for his research. In 2008 he was awarded the Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC) Medal (the society’s highest honour), and in 2009 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (London). He received the 2010 Leadership in Science Award from the Alberta Science & Technology (ASTech) Foundation. In 2014 he was made a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. He served in numerous scientific organizations, was President of the Canadian Society for Chemistry (2002-2003), a Member of Council of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) (2001-2004) and Chair of the 2008 Annual Conference of the Canadian Society for Chemistry. He was Chair of the Chemical Institute of Canada for 2015-2016 and is co-Chair of the American Peptide Symposium (June 2017). He is a Senior Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) (Molecular Architecture of Life). He is the author of over 340 research publications, 4 books and 23 issued patents. Thus far he has had 58 Ph.D. students, 8 M.Sc. students, >70 postdoctoral fellows and >70 undergraduates complete research in his group. His current group is 12 Ph.D. students and 3 postdoctoral fellows.

研究领域

Understanding the chemistry by which Nature assembles biological molecules is not only an exciting intellectual endeavour, but is also a prerequisite to rationally influence life processes in medicine and agriculture. Our research currently centers on the formation of important biological molecules, including antimicrobial peptides, amino acid metabolites, and polyketides. The approach is interdisciplinary. Experimental aspects of our projects encompass organic synthesis and spectroscopic methodology (especially NMR and mass spectrometry), as well as isotopic techniques, natural products isolation, enzymatic reactions, and culturing of microorganisms. Current projects include: Investigation of the three dimensional structure, mechanism of action, formation and applications of bacteriocins from lactic acid bacteria. These antimicrobial peptides (37-56 amino acids) are non-toxic to mammals, naturally preserve food, and may be useful for treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. Examination of the mechanism of polyketide biosynthesis in fungi, especially formation of lovastatin (a widely-prescribed cholesterol-lowering drug) and generation of biologically active macrolides Construction of structurally modified neuropeptide hormones and their antagonists to provide improved activity and stability. These compounds influence a host of biological processes including lactation, childbirth, pain, appetite, pigmentation, pheromone biosynthesis and embryonic development. Understanding and duplicating the mechanisms of unusual enzymes, especially amino acid epimerases and hydroxylases (e.g. P450 and ketoglutarate dependent oxygenases).

近期论文

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Production of new cladosporin analogues by reconstitution of the polyketide synthases responsible for the biosynthesis of this antimalarial agent. Author(s): Rachel V. K. Cochrane, Randy Sanichar, Gareth R. Lambkin, Bela Reiz, Wei Xu, Yi Tang, John C. Vederas Publication Date: 2016-01-05 Journal: Angewandte Chemie International Edition Volume: 55 Page Numbers: 664-668 Description: he antimalarial agent cladosporin is a nanomolar inhibitor of... read more Documents and Images: Document Publication Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/anie.201509345. The Antimicrobial Lipopeptide Tridecaptin A Selectively Binds to Gram-Negative Lipid II Author(s): Stephen A. Cochrane, Brandon Findlay, Alireza Bakhtiary, Jeella Z. Acedo, Eva M. Rodriguez-Lopez, Pascal Mercier, P., John C. Vederas Publication Date: 2016 Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA Volume: 113 Page Numbers: 11561-11566 Description: Tridecaptin A1 (TriA1) is a nonribosomal lipopeptide with sel... read more Documents and Images: Document Publication Link: http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1608623113 Synthesis of tridecaptin-antibiotic conjugates with in vivo activity against gram-negative bacteria Author(s): Cochrane S.A., Li X., He S., Yu M., Wu M., Vederas J.C Publication Date: 2015-12-04 Journal: Journal of Medicinal Chemistry Volume: 58 Page Numbers: 9779-9785 Description: A series of tridecaptin−antibiotic conjugates were synthesize... read more Highly selective but multifunctional oxygenases in secondary metabolism Author(s): Rachel V Cochrane Publication Date: 2014 Journal: Accounts of Chemical Research Volume: 47 Page Numbers: 3148-3165 Description: Aside from the ability of oxygenases to specifically oxidize ... read more Documents and Images: Document Publication Link: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/ar500242c Structure and Biosynthesis of Carnolysin, a Homolog of Enterococcal Cytolysin with D-Amino Acids Author(s): Christopher T Lohans, Jing L Li, John C Vederas Publication Date: 2014 Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society Volume: 136 Page Numbers: 13150-13153 Description: Lantibiotics are a group of highly post-translationally modif... read more Documents and Images: Document Publication Link: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/ja5070813