Profile picture of Victoria DeRose

Victoria DeRose

Department Head
Professor, Bioinorganic Chemistry, Biophysical Chemistry & Chemical Biology
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Phone: 541-346-3568
Office: 355A Klamath Hall

Research

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 the roles of metal ions in catalytic RNAs (ribozymes) and platinum compounds as RNA crosslinking reagents for enhancing structure-function studies. We are particularly interested in understanding how metal compounds, including anticancer agents, interact with cellular RNAs; RNA is a fascinating biopolymer that plays many different roles in regulating biological processes. To advance this unexplored area, we are engaged in developing high-throughput and novel 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.

Publications

https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=-kJ8YCUAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

Selected:

 
DeRose, V.J. and Michel, S. Editorial overview: Bioinorganic chemistry: Metals in biology: approaching the big picture. Current Opinion in Chemical Biology 2020, 55, A4–A6.  DOI 10.1016/j.cbpa.2020.03.002
 
Nucleolar Stress Induction by Oxaliplatin and Derivatives
Emily Sutton*, Christine McDevitt*, Jack Prochnau, Matthew Yglesias, Austin Mroz, Min Chieh Yang, Rachael Cunningham, Christopher Hendon, Victoria J. DeRose,  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019 141(46), 18411-18415 Link
 
Monofunctional platinum(II) compounds and nucleolar stress: Is phenanthriplatin unique?
Christine McDevitt, Matthew Yglesias, Austin Mroz, Emily Sutton, Min Chieh Yang, Christopher Hendon, Victoria J. DeRose,  J Biol Inorg Chem. 2019 24(6), 899-906 Link
 
Mapping platinum adducts on yeast ribosomal RNA using high- throughput sequencing
Kory Plakos and Victoria J. DeRose Chem Comm, 2017 53(95), 12746-12749 Link
 
Platinum Binds Proteins in the Endoplasmic Reticulum of S. cerevisiae and Induces Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress
Rachael M. Cunningham and Victoria J. DeRose ACS Chem. Biol., 2017 12(11), 2737-2745 Link
 
Beyond Mg(2+) : functional interactions between RNA and transition metals
Adam M. Saunders and Victoria J. DeRose Curr Opin Chem Biol, 2016 31, 153-159 Link
 
Multifunctional Pt(II) Reagents: Covalent Modifications of Pt Complexes Enable Diverse Structural Variation and In-Cell Detection
Jonathan D. White, Michael M. Haley, and Victoria J. DeRose Acc. Chem. Res., 2016 49(1), 56-66Link
 
Nucleic Acid Catalysis: Metals, Nucleobases, and Other Cofactors
W. Luke Ward, Kory Plakos, and Victoria J. DeRose Chem. Rev. 2013, 135 (32), pp 11680–11683 Link