Directory | Contact | Careers | Intranet | Home

Scripps Research Joint Appointments

The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology
Center for Integrative Molecular Biosciences
Director, Training Prgm. in Molecular Evolution, Kellogg School of Science and Technology
Faculty, Kellogg School of Science and Technology

Other Joint Appointments

Editor-in-Chief, ACS Combinatorial Science

Research Focus

Catalysis and Nanotechnology

Our work focuses on three areas: (1) the use of viruses as chemical building blocks for catalysts, materials, pharmaceuticals, and diagnostic agents; (2) the development and applications of highly reliable organic transformations ("click chemistry") to the discovery of biologically active compounds and functional materials; and (3) the use of molecular evolution techniques to develop new enzymes. We engage in many collaborative projects with coworkers at TSRI and elsewhere, and our group is a highly interdisciplinary one.

Education

B.S., Chemistry, California Institute of Technology, 1980
Ph.D., Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1986

Professional Experience

Postdoc (1986-88) Stanford University (J.P. Collman); NIH postdoctoral fellow, with research on catalytic metalloporphyrin complexes.
University of Virginia (1988-1999) Assistant and Associate Professor; research on organometallic chemistry, synthetic methods, and catalysis.
The Scripps Research Institute (1999-present) Associate and Full Professor.

Awards & Professional Activities

Founding Director, Scripps Predoctoral Training Program in Molecular Evolution
TSRI Academic Advisor for Chemical Biology, 2009-present
TSRI Chemistry Graduate Admissions committee, 1999-present (Chair, 2007-present)
NIH Consortium for Functional Glycomics, Subgroup leader, 2008 – present

Selected References

"RNA-Directed Packaging of Enzymes within Virus-Like Particles” Fiedler, J.D.; Brown, S.D.; Lau, J.; Finn, M.G. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2010, 49, 9648-9651.

"Stabilization of Virus-Like Particles with Poly(2-oxazoline)s” Manzenrieder, F.; Luxenhofer, R.; Retzlaff, M.; Jordan, R.; Finn, M.G. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2011, in press.

"Quantitation of Membrane-Bound Protein-Ligand Interactions Using Backscattering Interferometry” Baksh, M.M.; Kussrow, A.; Mileni, M.; Finn, M.G.; Bornhop, D., Nat. Biotechnol., 2011, in press.

"Universal Sensing by Transduction of Antibody Binding using Backscattering Interferometry “ Kussrow, A.; Baksh, M.M.; Bornhop, D.J.; Finn, M.G., ChemBioChem 2010, in press. DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201000671.

"Labeling Live Cells by Copper-Catalyzed Alkyne-Azide Click Chemistry” Hong, V.; Steinmetz, N.F.; Manchester, M.; Finn, M.G. Bioconjugate Chem. 2010, 21, 1912-1916.

"Tailored Ligand Acceleration of the Cu-Catalyzed Azide-Alkyne Cycloaddition Reaction: Practical and Mechanistic Implications” Presolski, S.I.; Hong, Vu.; Cho, S.-H.; Finn, M.G., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132, 14570-14576.

"An Unexpected Example of Protein-Templated Click Chemistry” Suzuki, T.; Ota, Y.; Kasuya, Y.; Mutsuga, M.; Kawamura, Y.; Tsumoto, H.; Nakagawa, H.; Finn, M.G.; Miyata, N., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2010, 49, 6817-6820.

"Multivalent Display and Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis of Transferrin on Virus-Like Particles” Banerjee, D.; Liu, A.; Voss, N.R.; Schmid, S.; Finn, M.G. ChemBioChem 2010, 11, 1273-1279.

"Defining Criteria for Oligomannose Immunogens for HIV Using Icosahedral Virus Capsid Scaffolds” Astronomo, R.D.; Kaltgrad, E.; Udit, A.K.; Wang, S.-K.; Doores, K.J.; Huang, C.-Y.; Pantophlet, R.; Paulson, J.C.; Wong, C.-H.; Finn, M.G.; Burton, D.R., Chem. Biol. 2010, 17, 357-370.

"Effects of a Novel Arginine Methyltransferase Inhibitor on T Helper Cell Cytokine Production” Bonham, K.; Lim, Y.-H.; Hill, D.M.; Finn, M.G.; Mowen, K.A. FEBS J. 2010, 277, 2096-2108.

"Glycosylation using Unprotected Alkynyl Donors” Mamidyala, S.K.; Finn, M.G. J. Org. Chem. 2009, 74, 8417-8420.

"Analysis and Optimization of Copper-Catalyzed Azide-Alkyne Cycloaddition for Bioconjugation”  Hong, V.; Presolski, S.I.; Ma, C.; Finn, M.G., Angew. Chem., Int. Ed., 2009, 48, 9879-9883.

"Assembly of Hybrid Bacteriophage Qb Virus-Like Particles” Brown, S.D.; Fiedler, J.D.; Finn, M.G., Biochemistry 2009, 47, 11155-11157.

"Thiol-Selective Fluorogenic Probes for Labeling and Release” Hong, V.; Kislukhin, A.; Finn, M.G. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131, 9986-9994.

"Measurement of Monovalent and Polyvalent Carbohydrate-Lectin Binding by Back-Scattering Interferometry” Kussorw, A.; Kaltgrad, E.; Wolfenden, M.L.; Cloninger, M.J.; Finn, M.G.; Bornhop, D.J. Anal. Chem. 2009, 81, 4889-4897.

"Peptide Cyclization and Cyclodimerization by Cu^I-Mediated Azide-Alkyne Cycloaddition” Jagasia, R.; Holub, J.M.; Bollinger, M.; Kirshenbaum, K.; Finn, M.G. J. Org. Chem. 2009, 74, 2964-2974.

"Heparin Antagonism by Polyvalent Display of Cationic Motifs on Virus-Like Particles” Udit, A.K.; Everett, C.; Gale, A.J.; Kyle, J.R.; Ozkan, M.; Finn, M.G. ChemBioChem, 2009, 10, 503-510.

"Unnatural Amino Acid Incorporation into Virus-Like Particles”  Strable, E.; Prasuhn, D.E., Jr.; Udit, A.K.; Brown, S.; Link, A.J.; Ngo, J.T.; Lander, G.; Quispe, J.; Potter, C.S.; Carragher, B.; Tirrell, D.A.; Finn, M.G. Bioconjugate Chem. 2008, 19, 866-875.

"Plasma Clearance of Bacteriophage Qb Particles as a Function of Surface Charge” Prasuhn, D.E., Jr.; Singh, P.; Strable, E.; Brown, S.; Manchester, M.; Finn, M.G. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 1328-1334.

"Benzimidazole and Related Ligands for Cu-Catalyzed Azide-Alkyne Cycloaddition” Rodionov, V.O.; Presolski, S.; Gardinier, S.; Lim, Y.-H.; Finn, M.G. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 12696-12704.

"Ligand-Accelerated Cu-Catalyzed Azide-Alkyne Cycloaddition: a Mechanistic Report” Rodionov, V.O.; Presolski, S.; Díaz, D.D.; Fokin, V.V.; Finn, M.G. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 12705-12712.