Chemistry - Faculty

CHEM 116      Introduction to College Chemistry

CHEM 314      Introduction to Organic Chemistry

CHEM 446      Biochemistry I

CHEM 447      Biochemistry Lab

CHEM 467      Biochemistry II

Biochemistry; Inorganic

Keywords:  Platinum; anticancer; NMR; protein; DNA

Research in our laboratory focuses on studying analogs of the platinum anticancer drugs cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin.  These compounds exhibit anticancer activity by reacting with DNA, though reaction with proteins is generally faster.  Cisplatin and oxaliplatin are approved for different types of cancers and this could be due to uptake by different protein transporters.  Our group studies analogs of the platinum compounds to determine how the size and shape affects reactivity with individual amino acids and nucleotides, which function as simple but understandable model systems for the protein and DNA reactions.  We use NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, molecular mechanics calculations, and other techniques to understand these simple model systems.  In collaboration with other groups (Dr. Smith, Biology; Dr. Blairanne Williams, Chemistry), we examine the cellular uptake and toxicity in various cells lines as well as the effects of the compounds on hearing in zebrafish models.  Our goal is to correlate the biological activity with the simple chemical models in order to design more effective drugs.