Centre staff
Dr Wjatschesslaw Wlassoff
Senior lecturer in medicinal chemistry
Phone 0114 225 5285
Email w.wlassoff@shu.ac.uk
Research interests
Molecular interactions
Chemical tools for molecular and cell biology
- electrochemical methods for detection of nucleic acids , with the emphasis on the development of new, cheap, simple, easily applicable and reliable methods and reagents for genes and mutations detection
- photoreactive derivatives of nucleotide s for studying the DNA-protein interactions. These compounds are especially useful in investigating complex molecular machineries, such as the multi-protein complexes formed during processes such as DNA replication, transcription and repair. As they are quickly activated and fast reacting species, photo-reactive nucleotides allow the visualisation of momentary 'snap-shots' of interactions between the nucleic acids and proteins in these multi-protein assemblies
- fluorescent technologies in molecular and cell biology, especially the reagents for enzymatic fluorescent labelling of nucleic acids
- combinatorial chemistry for development of new selective inhibitors of enzymes. Nucleotide mimetics for modulation of nucleotide-dependent enzymes activity
Cancer research
- anti-cancer drug design, particularly the development of new methods for selective delivery and/or activation of drugs at cancer sites (prodrug approach)
- mechanism of metastatic growth: role of matrix metalloproteinases
- telomeres and telomerase (and the ways of its blocking in cancer cells)
- mechanisms of DNA replication and repair in normal and transformed cells: the loopholes for the introduction of DNA damaging drugs into cancer cells
Structural biology of the proteins involved in replication, transcription and repair
- molecular interactions between the components of complex nucleoprotein systems
- molecular recognition and its mechanisms
- molecular evolution of replication, transcription and repair enzymes
Collaborators
- Professor Olga Lavrik, Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry and Fundamental Medicine, Novosibirsk, Russia (enzymes of DNA replication and repair, photoreactive derivatives of nucleoside 5'-triphosphates)
website
- Professor Rudolf Salganik, Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA (drugs against breast cancer, free radicals)
website
- Dr Chris Hamilton, Department of Chemistry, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland (nucleotide mimetics, chemistry of carbohydrates)
website
- Dr Victoria Evdokimova, University of Pittsburg, Pittsburg, PA, USA (metastatic cancer, prodrugs in cancer chemotherapy)
- Professor J. Justin Gooding, School of Chemistry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia (electrochemical detection of nucleic acids, redox labelled nucleotides)
website
Recent publications
Rowan, A.S., Nicely, N.I., Cochrane, N., Wlassoff, W.A., Claiborne, A., Hamilton, C.J. (2009) Nucleoside triphosphate mimicry: a sugar triazolyl nucleoside as an ATP-competitive inhibitor of B. anthracis pantothenate kinase. Org. Biomol. Chem. 7, 4029-4036.
Wlassoff WA, Finlay RMJ, Hamilton CJ (2007). A practical synthesis of sugar monophosphonucleotides. Synthetic Communications 37(17), 2927-2934.
Wlassoff WA, Albright CD, Appelbaum JG, Sivashinski MS, Salganik RI (2007). Hydrogen peroxide that is overproduced in breast cancer cells can serve as anticancer prodrug generating the apoptosis stimulating hydroxyl radicals under the effect of tamoxifen-ferrocene conjugate. J Pharm Pharmacol. 59(11):1549-53.
Di Giusto DA, Wlassoff WA, Gooding JJ, Messerle BA, King GC (2005). Proximity extension of circular DNA aptamers for real-time protein detection. Nucleic Acids Res., 33 e64.
Di Giusto DA, Wlassoff WA, Giesebrecht, S, Gooding JJ, King GC (2004) Enzymatic synthesis of redox-labelled RNA and dual-potential detection at DNA-modified electrodes. Angewandte Chemie , 43: 2809-2812.
King GC, Di Giusto DA, Wlassoff WA, Giesebrecht S, Flening E, Tyrell GD (2004) Proofreading genotyping assays and electrochemical detection of SNPs. Human Mutation, 23: 420-425.
Di Giusto DA, Wlassoff WA, Giesebrecht S , Gooding JJ, King GC (2004) Multipotential detection of electrochemical primer extension reactions on DNA self-assembled monolayers. J.Am.Chem.Soc., 126: 4120-4121.
Wlassoff WA and King GC (2002) Ferrocene conjugates of dUTP for enzymatic redox labelling of DNA. Nucleic Acids Res., 30 e58.
Sheffield Hallam University is not responsible for the content of external websites
