RYAN E LOOPER portrait
  • Associate Professor, Chemistry
  • Professor, Chemistry
  • Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Chair, Chemistry

Research Summary

Our research program aims to understand small molecule function in biological systems. Our approach delineates hypothesis-driven and discovery-based approaches to both understand and discover new small molecule modulators of important biological processes. Synthetic chemistry allows us to develop compounds with therapeutic potential in three major working areas: 1) Guanidinium ion natural products, 2) New Antibiotic agents, and 3) New anti-cancer agents.

Education

  • B.S., Chemistry, Western Washington University
  • M.S., Chemistry, Western Wahington University. Project: Total synthesis of the heliannuols; allelopathic natural products.
  • Ph.D., Chemistry, Colorado State University. Project: Synthesis of the Cylindrospermopsin alkaloids.
  • Post-Doctoral Fellow, Chemical Biology, Harvard University

Biography

  • Srinivas R. Paladugu, Chintelle K. James and Ryan E. Looper “A direct C11 alkylation strategy on the saxitoxin core; a synthesis of (+)-11-Saxitoxinethanoic acid” submitted,  2019
  • Catherine M. Serrano, Hariprasada R. Kanna Reddy, Daniel R. Eiler, Michael R. Koch, Louis R. Barrows, Ryan T. Vanderlinden, Charles A. Testa, Paul R. Sebahar and Ryan E. Looper* “Unifying aminohexopyranose nucleoside antibiotics; implications for antibiotic design” submitted,  2019
  • Dustin L. Williams, Scott R. Smith, R. Tyler Epperson, Brittany R. Peterson and Ryan E. Looper “Growth Substrate May Influence Biofilm Susceptibility to Antibiotics” PLOS One,  2019, in press.
  • Williams, Dustin L.; Epperson, Richard T.; Ashton, Nicholas N.; Taylor, Nicholas B.; Kawaguchi, Brooke; Olsen, Raymond E.; Haussener, Travis J.; Sebahar, Paul R.; Allyn, Gina; Looper, Ryan E. “In vivo analysis of a first-​in-​class tri-​alkyl norspermidine-​biaryl antibiotic in an active release coating to reduce the risk of implant-​related infection” Acta Biomaterialia,  2019  in press. PMID: 30710710
  • Williams, Dustin L.; Epperson, Richard T.; Ashton, Nicholas N.; Taylor, Nicholas B.; Kawaguchi, Brooke; Olsen, Raymond E.; Haussener, Travis J.; Sebahar, Paul R.; Allyn, Gina; Looper, Ryan E. “In Vitro Testing of a First-In-Class Tri-alkylnorspermidine-biaryl Antibiotic in an Anti-biofilm Silicone Coating” Acta Biomaterialia  2019 in pressPMID:30769135
  • Vaden, R. M.; Guillen, K. P.; Salvant, J. M.; Santiago, C. B.; Gibbons, J. B.; Pathi, S. S.; Arunachalam, S.; Sigman, M. S.; Looper, R. E.; Welm, B. E., A Cancer-Selective Zinc Ionophore Inspired by the Natural Product Naamidine A. ACS Chem. Biol.  2019, 14 (1), 106-117. PMID: 30571086
  • Laukka, T.; Myllykoski, M.; Looper, R. E.; Koivunen, P., Cancer-associated 2-oxoglutarate analogues modify histone methylation by inhibiting histone lysine demethylases. Journal of Molecular Biology  2018, 430 (18, Part B), 3081-3092;
  • Philip, B.; Yu, D. X.; Silvis, M. R.; Shin, C. H.; Robinson, J. P.; Robinson, G. L.; Welker, A. E.; Angel, S. N.; Tripp, S. R.; Sonnen, J. A.; VanBrocklin, M. W.; Gibbons, R. J.; Looper, R. E.; Colman, H.; Holmen, S. L., Mutant IDH1 Promotes Glioma Formation In Vivo. Cell Rep.  2018, 23 (5), 1553-1564;
  • Bharat, D.; Cavalcanti, R. R. M.; Petersen, C.; Begaye, N.; Cutler, B. R.; Costa, M. M. A.; Ramos, R. K. L. G.; Ferreira, M. R.; Li, Y.; Bharath, L. P.; Toolson, E.; Sebahar, P.; Looper, R. E.; Jalili, T.; Rajasekaran, N. S.; Jia, Z.; Symons, J. D.; Anandh Babu, P. V., Blueberry Metabolites Attenuate Lipotoxicity-Induced Endothelial Dysfunction. Nutr. Food Res.  2018, 62 (2), n/a;
  • McBrayer SK, Mayers JR, DiNatale GJ, Shi DD, Khanal J, Chakraborty AA, Sarosiek KA, Briggs KJ, Robbins AK, Sewastianik T, Shareef SJ, Olenchock BA, Parker SJ, Tateishi K, Spinelli JB, Islam M, Haigis MC, Looper RE, Ligon KL, Bernstein BE, Carrasco RD, Cahill DP, Asara JM, Metallo CM, Yennawar NH, Vander Heiden MG, Kaelin WG. Transaminase Inhibition by 2-Hydroxyglutarate Impairs Glutamate Biosynthesis and Redox Homeostasis in Glioma.  Cell  2018, 175(1):101-116.e25. PMID: 30220459
  • Tuomas Laukka, Matti Myllykoski, Ryan E. Looper, Peppi Koivunen “Cancer-associated 2-oxoglutarate analogues modify histone methylation by inhibiting histone lysine demethylases” Mol. Biol  2018430, 3081-3092.
  • Joseph B. Gibbons, Justin M. Salvant, Rachel M. Vaden, Bryan E. Welm and Ryan E. Looper “A synthesis of naamidine A and selective access to N2-acyl-2-aminoimidazoles.” Org. Chem.  2015, 80, 10076–10085.
  • Kaitlin J. Basham, Christopher J. Leonard, Collin Kieffer, Dawne N. Shelton, Vasudev R. Bhonde, Ryan E. Looper, and Bryan E. Welm “Dioxin Exposure Blocks Lactation Through a Direct Effect on Mammary Epithelial Cells Mediated by the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Repressor”Sci.  2015143 (1), 36-45. PMCID: PMC4274378
  • Jing Fan, Xin Teng, Ling Liu, Ryan E. Looper and Joshua D. Rabinowitz “Human phosphoglycerate dehydrogenase produces the oncometabolite D-2-hydroxyglutarate” ACS Chemical Biology  201510, 510-516. PMCID:PMC4340346