Courses taught: Organic Chemistry I and II, Biochemistry, Medicinal Chemistry
Undergraduate Research in Medicinal Chemistry
There are several projects ongoing in the lab that students can work on. We do medicinal chemistry, which is the design and synthesis of molecules that interact with biological systems in useful ways. Undergraduate students learn various techniques including organic synthesis, protein purification, and enzymology. Participation in these projects is a great way to prepare for careers in science or medicine.
If you're student interested in organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, or biochemistry and want to talk about research, please get in touch! I will describe the projects and how you can participate.
Publications/preprints (*IC student)
Madhavan SS, Roa Diaz S, Peralta S, Nomura M, King CD, Ceyhan KE, Lin A, Bhaumik D, Foulger AC, Shah S, Blade T, Gray W, Chamoli M, Eap B, Panda O, Diaz D, Garcia TY, Stubbs BJ, Ulrich SM, Lithgow GJ, Schilling B, Verdin E, Chaudhuri AR, Newman JC. β-hydroxybutyrate is a metabolic regulator of proteostasis in the aged and Alzheimer disease brain. Cell Chem Biol. 2024 Nov 25:S2451-9456(24)00459-8. link to paper
Crane C, Miele M*, Iyengar R*, Strathmann N*, Jallow S*, Ulrich S. Erastin-like anti-Warburg compounds X1 and X4 are GLS2-selective covalent glutaminase inhibitors. ChemRxiv. 2024; doi:10.26434/chemrxiv-2024-mtk6s link to paper
Newman JC, Keran Ma, Kroll F, Higgins E*, Ulrich S, Palop JJ, Verdin E. "Small-molecule ketone esters treat brain network abnormalities in an Alzheimer’s disease mouse model." bioRxiv 2022. doi: 10.1101/2022.09.24.509337 link to paper
Higgins E*, Kellner-Rogers JS*, Estanislau AM*, Esposito AC*, Vail NR*, Payne SR*, Stockwell JG*, and Ulrich SM. "Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of Transition-State Analogs as Inhibitors of the Bacterial Quorum Sensing Autoinducer Synthase CepI." Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters Volume 39, May 1 , 2021 link to paper
Budin N*, Higgins E*, DiBernardo A*, Raab C*, Li C, Ulrich SM. "Efficient synthesis of the ketone body ester (R)-3-hydroxybutyryl-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate and its (S,S) enantiomer" Bioorganic Chemistry Volume 80, October 2018, Pages 560-564 link to paper
Stalnecker CA, Ulrich SM, Li Y, Ramachandran S, McBrayer MK, DeBerardinis RJ, Cerione RA, Erickson JW. "Mechanism by which a recently discovered allosteric inhibitor blocks glutamine metabolism in transformed cells." Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015 Jan 13;112(2):394-9. link to paper
Shimazu T, Hirschey MD, Newman J, He W, Shirakawa K, Le Moan N, Grueter CA, Lim H, Saunders LR, Stevens RD, Newgard CB, Farese RV Jr, de Cabo R, Ulrich S, Akassoglou K, Verdin E. "Suppression of oxidative stress by β-hydroxybutyrate, an endogenous histone deacetylase inhibitor." Science. 2013 Jan 11;339(6116):211-4 link to paper
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 35 (2) 143-153, 31 July 2009 link to paper
Ulrich SM. Protein Kinases and Dephosphorylases: Chemistry and Roles. Wiley Encyclopedia of Chemical Biology 2008 Link to paper
KrennHrubec K*, Marshal B, Hedglin M*, Verdin E and Ulrich SM. "Design and Evaluation of Linkerless Hydroxamic Acids as Selective HDAC8 Inhibitors" 2007 March 30 Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters link to paper