Kim Janda - F1000 Section Head (since 18 July 2001)
Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA
BIOGRAPHY
CURRENT POSITIONS:• Ely R Callaway Jr, Professor of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Chemistry & Department of Immunology and Microbial Science
• Skaggs Scholar, The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology
• Director, Worm Institute of Research and Medicine (WIRM)
EDUCATION:
• University of South Florida, Clinical Chemistry; BS, 1980
• University of Arizona, Organic Chemistry; Thesis title: Synthesis of Diphenyl Ethers as Related to the Anti-tumor Agent Deoxybouvardin; MS, 1983
• University of Arizona, Major-Organic Chemistry, Minor-Medicinal Chemistry; Dissertation title: Progress Towards a Synthesis of Deoxybouvardin and Analogues: New Synthetic Methods; PhD, 1984
HONORS, MEMBERSHIPS AND AWARDS:
• Molecule of the Week (3,4-Diaminopyridine), American Chemical Society, January 10, 2011
• Harvey W McFadden, Jr, MD Lecture, Department of Pathology & Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, 2010
• Harold A Iddles Lecture, Chemistry Department, University of New Hampshire, Durham, 2010
• Doctor of Philosophy honoris causa, University of Helsinki, Finland, 2009
• Discover magazine’s 'Top 100 Science Stories of 2006' for Obesity Vaccine work
• Office of Life Sciences Distinguished Lecture, National University of Singapore, 2006
• Elected Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 2003
• Biomolecular Student Lecture, Emory University, 2003
• GSO Speaker, University of North Carolina, 2003
• Keynote Speaker, Graduate Student Symposium, University of Michigan, 2003
• Sigma-Aldrich Lecture, Milwaukee Section ACS, Milwaukee, WI, 2002
• Rayson Huang Visiting Lecturer, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, 2002
• Shire BioChem Lecture, Universite de Montreal, Montreal, Canada, 2002.
• Outstanding Alumnus in Chemistry, University of South Florida, 2001
• J Clarence Karcher Lecture, University of Oklahoma, 2000
• Arthur C Cope Scholar Award, 1999
• Alfred P Sloan Fellowship, 1993-1995
• NIH FIRST Award, 1990-1995
• Fellow, American Institute of Chemists, 1986-present
• Carl S Marvel Fellowship, University of Arizona, 1984
• American Chemical Society, 1981-present
• Magna Cum Laude; Phi Beta Kappa, University of South Florida, 1980
• Scholar Athlete of the Year, University of South Florida, 1979-1980
EDITORSHIPS:
• Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry, Advisory Board
• Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry, American Regional Editor, 2008-present
• Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, Advisory Board, 2004-present
• Chemical Reviews, Advisory Board, 2002-present
• Immunotherapy, Advisory Board
• Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Advisory Board, 2008-present
• PLoS ONE, Associate Editor, 2010-present
• Tetrahedron Publications, Executive Board of Editors, 2008-present
• The Botulinum Journal, Advisory Board
RESEARCH INTERESTS:
The basic principle for the generation of catalytic antibodies was first proposed by Jencks and built on the precept of Pauling that the catalytic power of enzymes is derived, at least in part, from stabilization of the corresponding reaction's transition state. Therefore, isolation of a catalytic antibody involves, in its simplest form, probing the vast immune repertoire to elicit antibodies against a hapten that is a stable analog of the transition state of a reaction of interest. These antibodies, by nature of their programmed binding selectivity, should therefore lower the free energy of activation along the reaction coordinate, thereby catalyzing the process.
Over the last twenty years antibody catalysis has traversed many different paths. Throughout this time, we have pioneered various strategies beyond transition state analogues for eliciting catalytic antibodies including the 'bait-and-switch' approach and 'reactive immunization'. Using these strategies, antibodies have been isolated which have rate enhancements approaching those observed in natural enzymes. Furthermore, although the inception of the field in 1986 was based on catalysis of acyl transfer processes, it was quickly recognized that for antibodies to have significant impact within the organic community, chemical reactions that are disfavored or ones in which there are no enzyme counterparts would have to be investigated. We reported the first example of a disfavored chemical transformation catalyzed by an antibody in 1993, and have published numerous other examples of formally disfavored processes in the intervening years.
Using the principles described above, we have elicited antibody catalysts for a wide variety of reactions including ester hydrolysis and transesterification, amide hydrolysis, glycosidic bond hydrolysis, decarboxylations, anti-Baldwin ring closures, oxepane synthesis, the Diels Alder reaction, cationic cyclizations including tandem terpenoid cyclization processes, SN1 nucleophilic substitutions, cationic cyclopropanations, phosphate triester hydrolysis, peptidyl-prolyl isomerizations, 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions, syn elimination reactions, functionalization of dendrimers, metal-dependent acyl transfer processes, steroid isomerizations, the photo-Fries reaction, the synthesis of quinones from enediyne-containing molecules, blue-fluorescent antibodies, and the discovery that all antibodies, regardless of source or specificity, can produce oxidants including H2O2.
We continue to push the boundaries of what is believed possible using catalytic antibodies and remain a major contributor to this field as it continues to evolve. Examples of current projects in this area include harnessing the power of the intrinsic antibody oxidation potential for the catalytic degradation of biologically relevant molecules, design of novel haptens for elimination reactions relevant to drugs of abuse, and explorations of blue-fluorescent antibody technology in biological applications.