B.A., University of Chicago, 1983. PhD, University of California-Berkeley, 1990 (Mel Klein and Ken Sauer). Postdoctoral: Northwestern University (Brian Hoffman). Assistant (1995-01) and Associate (2001-05) Professor of Chemistry, Texas A&M University. Full Professor, University of Oregon (2006). Associate Vice President for Equity and Inclusion, 2017-2019. Director, UO NSF Research Trainee program in Molecular Probes and Sensors, 2020. Honors and Awards: NIH Postdoctoral fellow, 1991-94; NSF CAREER awardee, 1997; Research Corporation Cottrell Scholar, 1998; Center for Teaching Excellence Montague Scholar,1999; AFS College of Science Teaching Award, 2000. University of Oregon Fund for Faculty Members Excellence Award, 2008. American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, 2010. UO Center for Undergraduate Research & Engagement (CURE) Co-Awardee, 2018. Knight Campus Faculty Fellow, 2019. At UO since 2006.
We investigate the interactions of metals in biological systems, with emphasis on nucleic acids. This interdisciplinary research area combines chemical biology, bioinorganic chemistry, and biophysical chemistry. Research topics include understanding how metal compounds, including anticancer agents, interact with cellular RNAs. To advance this unexplored area, we are engaged in developing novel and high-throughput methods and reagents for measuring in-cell platinum adducts and their biological consequences. In recent work we have synthesized a suite of new Pt(II) compounds modified for click-chemistry that enable post-treatment detection, including imaging bound Pt in mammalian cell culture and enriching for Pt-bound targets for downstream analysis. Another current direction is to understand the surprising specificity of certain Pt compounds to influence the nucleolus, the site of ribosome biogenesis and 'Achilles heel' of a growing cell. Our laboratory team is interdisciplinary and inclusive, and we welcome a range of backgrounds including synthetic, biological, inorganic, and analytical chemistry.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=-kJ8YCUAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate
Selected:
Pigg, H.C., Yglesias, M.V., Sutton, E.C., McDevitt, C.E., Shaw, *M., DeRose, V.J. Time-dependent studies of oxaliplatin and other nucleolar stress-inducting platinum compounds. ACS Chem. Biol. 2022, 17, 2262-2271. DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.2c00399.https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acschembio.2c00399
*McDevitt, C.E., *Guerrero, A.S., Smith, H.M., DeRose V.J. Influence of ring modifications on nucleolar stress caused by oxaliplatin-like compounds. ChemBioChem, 2022, e20220013, (Very Important Paper designation); DOI:10.1002/cbic.202200130. https://chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cbic.202200130
Hunsicker-Wang, L.M., Vogt, M.J., Hoogstraten, C.F., Cosper, N.J., Davenport, A.M., Hendon, C.H., Scott, R.A., Britt, R.D., DeRose, V.J. Spectroscopic characterization of Mn2+ and Cd2+ coordination to phosphorothioates in the conserved A9 metal site of the hammerhead ribozyme. J. Inorg. Biochem. (Special issue in honor of Richard Holm) 2022, 230, 111754-111767. DOI 10.1016/j.jinorgbio.2022.111754
Sutton, E.C. and DeRose, V.J. Early nucleolar responses differentiate mechanisms of cell death induced by oxaliplatin and cisplatin. J. Biol. Chem. 296, 2021. DOI 10.1016/j.jbc.2021.100633. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021925821004191?via%3Dihub
Yglesias, M.V. and DeRose, V.J. ‘Metal ion interactions with DNA, RNA, and ribozymes’ Chapter in Comprehensive Coordination Chemistry III Vol. 8, Y. Lu, L. Que, Eds., Elsevier, Oxford, 2021, pp. 968-993. DOI 10.1016/B978-0-08-102688-5.00112-4