Directory

John Vederas, BSc, PhD, FRSC, FRS

Professor, Faculty of Science - Chemistry
Contact Overview Publications Links

Contact

Professor, Faculty of Science - Chemistry
Email
jvederas@ualberta.ca
Phone
(780) 492-5475
Address
W5-39A Chemistry Centre - West
11227 Saskatchewan Drive NW
Edmonton AB
T6G 2G2

Overview

About

B.Sc. Chemistry - Stanford University

Ph.D. Organic Chemistry - Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Prof. George H. Büchi

Postdoctoral Fellow - Institut für Organische Chemie - Universität Basel - Prof. Christoph Tamm

Postdoctoral Fellow - Dept. Medicinal Chemistry - Purdue University - Prof. Heinz G. Floss

Elected Fellow Royal Society of Canada - 1997

Chemical Institute of Canada Medal - 2008

Elected Fellow Royal Society (FRS, London) - 2009

Elected Member American Academy of Microbiology - 2014

Senior Fellow Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (Molecular Architecture of Life) - 2016


For list of additional awards and appointments, please see http://www.chem.ualberta.ca/~vederas/appointments.html


John Vederas is the author of over 400 research publications, 4 books and 24 issued patents. Thus far he has had 74 Ph.D. students, 9 M.Sc. students, >70 postdoctoral fellows and >80 undergraduates complete research in his group. His current group is 10 Ph.D. students and 2 postdoctoral fellows.


Research

Understanding the chemistry by which Nature assembles biological molecules is not only an exciting intellectual endeavour, but is also a prerequisite to rationally influence life processes in medicine and agriculture. Our research currently centers on the formation of important biological molecules, including antimicrobial peptides, amino acid metabolites, and polyketides. The approach is interdisciplinary. Experimental aspects of our projects encompass organic synthesis and spectroscopic methodology (especially NMR and mass spectrometry), as well as isotopic techniques, natural products isolation, enzymatic reactions, and culturing of microorganisms. Current projects include:

  • Investigation of the three dimensional structure, mechanism of action, formation and applications of bacteriocins from lactic acid bacteria. These antimicrobial peptides (37-80 amino acids) are non-toxic to mammals, naturally preserve food, and may be useful for treatment of gastrointestinal diseases.
  • Examination of the mechanism of polyketide biosynthesis in fungi, especially formation of lovastatin (a widely-prescribed cholesterol-lowering drug) and generation of biologically active macrolides
  • Construction of structurally modified neuropeptide hormones and their antagonists to provide improved activity and stability. These compounds influence a host of biological processes including lactation, childbirth, pain, appetite, pigmentation, pheromone biosynthesis and embryonic development.
  • Understanding and duplicating the mechanisms of unusual enzymes, especially amino acid epimerases and hydroxylases (e.g. P450 and ketoglutarate dependent oxygenases).

Featured Publications

Deuteration for Metabolic Stabilization of SARS-CoV-2 Inhibitors GC373 and Nirmatrelvir

Van Oers, T.J.; Piercey, A.; Belovodskiy, A.; Reiz, B.; Donnelly, B.L; Vuong, W.; Lemieux, M.J.; Nieman, J.A.; Auclair, K.; Vederas, J.C.

Organic Letters. 2023 August; 25 10.1021/acs.orglett.3c02140

Simplified cloning and isolation of peptides from “sandwiched” SUMO-peptide-intein fusion proteins

Lamer, T. ; Vederas, J.C.

BMC Biotechnology . 2023 July; 23 10.1186/s12896-023-00779-5

Methylene Analogues of Neopetrosiamide as Potential Antimetastatic Agents: Solid Supported Syntheses Using Diamino Diacids for Pre-Stapling of Peptides with Multiple Disulfides.

Pascoe, C.A.; Engelhardt, D.B.; Rosana, A.R.R.; van Belkum, M.J.; Vederas, J.C.

Organic Lettrs. 2021 November; 23

Decarboxylative Radical Addition to Methylideneoxazolidinones for Stereocontrolled Synthesis of Selectively Protected Diamino Diacids.

Hsiao, Y-.T.; Beadle, J.; Pascoe, C.; Annadate, R.; Vederas, J.C.

Organic Letters. 2021 September; 23

PEG-extended apelin-17 analogues as cardioprotective drug leads: importance of the KFRR motif and aromatic head group for improved physiological activity

Fischer, C.; Lamer, T.; Fernandez, K.; Gheblawi, M.; Wang, W.; Pascoe, C.; Lambkin, G.; Iturrioz, X.l; Llorens-Cortes, C.; Oudit, G.Y.; Vederas, J.C.

J. Med. Chem. . 2020 October; 63

Feline coronavirus drug inhibits the main protease of SARS-CoV-2 and blocks virus replication

Vuong, W.; Khan, M.B; Fischer, C.; Arutyunova, E.; Lamer, T.; Shields, J.; Saffran, H.A.; McKay, R.T.; van Belkum, M.J.; Joyce, M.; Young, H.S.; Tyrrell, D.L.; Vederas, J.C.; Lemieux, M.J.

Nature Comm.. 2020 May; 11 (4282):1-8

Catalytic Mechanism and Properties of Pyridoxal 5’-Phosphate Independent Racemases: How Enzymes Alter Mismatched Acidity and Basicity

Fischer, C.; Ahn, Y.-C.; Vederas, J.C

Nat. Prod. Rep.. 2019 April; 36

The expanding structural variety among bacteriocins from Gram-positive bacteria

Jeella Z. Acedo, Sorina Chiorean, John C. Vederas, Marco J. van Belkum

FEMS Microbiol. Rev.. 2018 August; 42

Insights into the Mechanism of Action of the Two-Peptide Lantibiotic Lacticin 3147

Alireza Bakhtiary, Stephen A. Cochrane, Pascal Mercier, Ryan T. McKay, Mark Miskolzie, Clarissa S. Sit, C.S., John C. Vederas

J. Am. Chem. Soc.. 2017 January; 139

Production of new cladosporin analogues by reconstitution of the polyketide synthases responsible for the biosynthesis of this antimalarial agent.

Rachel V. K. Cochrane, Randy Sanichar, Gareth R. Lambkin, Bela Reiz, Wei Xu, Yi Tang, John C. Vederas

Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 2016 October; 55