Paramjit Arora Associate Professor of Chemistry B.S., University of California at Berkeley Ph.D., University of California at Irvine, Postdoctoral Fellow, California Institute of Technology Email: arora@nyu.edu Phone:  212-998-8470 Lab Homepage:  http://www.nyu.edu/projects/arora/

Areas of Research/Interest: Organic chemistry, chemical biology, and molecular recognition

Research Description: We are developing a toolkit of distinctly folded biomimetic oligomers that mimic protein secondary structures and allow control over specific biomolecular interactions. Proteins typically utilize small folded domains for recognition of other biomolecules. The underlying hypothesis guiding our research efforts is that by mimicking these folded domains, we can reproduce the function of a particular protein with metabolically stable synthetic molecules. We have described two general methods for the preparation of such biomimetic scaffolds. One method involves stabilization of peptides into desired helical folds (alpha, 310, or pi) by substitution of a main-chain hydrogen bond with a covalent bond. The second approach involves generation of nonpeptidic scaffolds by replacement of amide bonds with rings capable of influencing the resulting oligomer into a defined conformation. With these scaffolds we are targeting chosen protein receptors and nucleic acids.

Select Publications:

Chapman, R. N.; Kulp, J. L. III; Patgiri, A.; Kallenbach, N. R.; Bracken, C.; Arora, P. S. “Trapping a Folding Intermediate of the Alpha-Helix: Stabilization of the Pi-Helix.” Biochemistry (Accelerated Publication) 2008, 47, 4189-4195.

Wang, D.; Liu, J.; Zheng, Q.; Lu, M.; Arora, P. S.  “Atomic Structure of a Short Alpha-Helix Stabilized by a Main Chain Hydrogen Bond Surrogate”.  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 4334-4337.

Wang, D.; Lu, M.; Arora, P.S. “Inhibition of HIV-1 Fusion by Hydrogen-Bond Surrogate Based Alpha-Helices.” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 1879-1882.

Angelo, N.; Arora, P. S. “Solution and Solid Phase Synthesis of Triazole Oligomers that Display Protein-like Functionality.” J. Org. Chem. 2007, 72, 7963-7967.

Chapman, R. N.; Arora, P. S. “Optimized Synthesis of Hydrogen-Bond Surrogate Helices: Surprising Effects of Microwaves on the Activity of Grubbs Catalysts.”  Org. Lett. 2006, 8, 5825-5828.

Wang, D.; Chen, K.; Kulp, J. L. III; Arora, P. S. “Evaluation of Biologically Relevant Short Alpha-Helices Stabilized by a Main-Chain Hydrogen-Bond Surrogate.” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128, 9248-9256.

Angelo, N.; Arora, P. S. “Nonpeptidic Foldamers from Amino Acids: Synthesis and Characterization of 1,3-Substituted Triazole Oligomers.” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 17134-17135.

 

Fellowships/Honors: American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship (1999-2002), James D. Watson Investigator Award (2002), Cottrell Scholar Award (2005), Whitehead Fellowship in Biomedical and Biological Sciences (2005-2006), Golden Dozen Teaching Award (2007)