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Janarthanan Jayawickramarajah , Assistant Professor
Ph.D., 2005, The Universtiy of Texas at Austin
Office: 5027 Percival Stern Building
Telephone: (504) 862-3580
Email: Janarthanan Jayawickramarajah

Discipline:  Bio-Organic Chemistry,  Nanobiotechnology, Molecular Recognition and Self-Assembly

Research in the Jayawickramarajah group involves a highly interdisciplinary effort to develop bio-inspired functional molecules capable of undergoing specific molecular recognition events.

A main thrust of our research is to study water compatible, self-assembling, synthetically functionalized oligomers that address contemporary problems. We are currently interested in three research arenas:

• Development of non-natural DNA for environmental waste remediation purposes.

• Engineering water compatible light harvesting architectures as artificial photosynthetic platforms.

• Development of aptamer technology as “smart” drugs for therapeutics. 

In addition to the application-driven nature of our work we are interested in designing model systems that will enhance our understanding of the basic principles governing molecular recognition in water.

As a result of our prepare-and-analyze philosophy, students in the laboratory will be well versed in synthetic organic chemistry and chemical biology, as well as being proficient in a whole host of spectroscopic and analytical techniques. 

Selected Publications

Fathalla, M.; Li, S.-C.; Diebold, U. Alb, A.; Jayawickramarajah, J. Water-soluble nanorods self-assembled via pristine-C60 and porphyrin moieties. Chem. Comm . 2009, Accepted.

Pierce, S. E.; Wang, J.; Jayawickramarajah, J.; Hamilton, A. D.; Brodbelt, J. S. Multistranded oligonucleotide complexes containing guanine and isoguanine annealed in monovalent and divalent cation salts studied by ESI-MS and CD .  Chem. Eur.  2009,   Accepted.

Fathalla, M.; Lawrence, C.; Zhang, N.; Sessler, J. L.; Jayawickramarajah, J. Base-pairing mediated non-covalent polymers Chem. Soc. Rev. 2009. DOI:10.1039/B806484A

Rosenzweig, B. A.; Ross, N. T.; Tagore, D. M.; Jayawickramarajah, J.; Saraogi, l.; Hamilton, A. D. Multivalent protein binding and precipitation by self-assembling molecules on a DNA pentaplex scaffold. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009. DOI: 10.1021/ja809219p

Harris, D. C.; Chu, X; Jayawickramarajah, J. Protein recognition via oligonucleotide-linked small molecules: Utilization of  the hemin-binding aptamer. Supramol. Chem. 2009. DOI: 10.1080/10610270802549717

Harris, D. C.; Chu, X; Jayawickramarajah, J. DNA-small molecule chimera with responsive protein-binding ability. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 14950-14951.

Pierce, S. E.; Sherman, C. L.; Jayawickramarajah, J.; Lawrence, C. M.; Sessler, J. L.; Brodbelt, J. S. ESI-MS characterization of a novel pyrrole-inosine nucleoside that interacts with guanine bases. Anal. Chim. Acta. 2008, 627, 129-135.

Jayawickramarajah, J.; Tagore, D. M.; Tsou, K.; Hamilton, A. D.  Allosteric control of self-assembly: Modulating the formation of guanine quadruplexes through orthogonal aromatic interactions. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007, 46, 7583-7586. (picked as ‘hot-paper’ by the editors)

Tagore, D. M.; Sprinz, K. I.; Fletcher, S.; Jayawickramarajah, J.; Hamilton, A. D. Protein recognition and denaturation by self-assembling fragments on a quadruplex scaffold.  Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007, 46, 223-225. (picked as ‘hot-paper’ by the editors)

Torres, T.; Gouloumis, A.; Sanchez, D.; Jayawickramarajah. J.; Seitz, W.; Guldi, D. M.; Sessler, J. L. Photophysical characterization of a cytidine-guanosine tethered phthalocyanine-fullerene dyad. Chem. Comm. 2007, 292-294.

Sessler, J. L.; Lawrence, C.; Jayawickramarajah, J. Molecular recognition via base-pairing. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2007. 36, 314-325.

Sessler, J. L.; Jayawickramarajah, J.; Gouloumis, A.; Pantos, G. D.; Torres, T.; Guldi, D. M. Guanosine and fullerene derived de-aggregation of a new phthalocyanine-linked cytidine derivative. Tetrahedron 2006, 62, 2123-2131.

Sessler, J. L.; Jayawickramarajah, J.  Functionalized base-pairs: versatile scaffolds for self-assembly. Chem. Comm. 2005, 15, 1939-1949.

Sessler, J. L.; Jayawickramarajah, J.; Gouloumis, A.; Torres, T.; Guldi, D. M.; Maldonado, S.; Stevenson, K. J.  Synthesis and photophysics of a porphyrin-fullerene dyad assembled through Watson-Crick hydrogen bonding. Chem. Comm. 2005, 14, 1892-1894.

Sessler, J. L.; Jayawickramarajah, J.; Sherman, C. L.; Brodbelt, J. S. Enhancing Hoogsteen interactions: A pyrrole-containing purine nucleoside that competes with guanosine self-assembly.  J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 11460-11461.

Sessler, J. L.; Jayawickramarajah, J.; Sathiosatham, M.  Energy-and electron-transfer in supramolecular systems. In Encyclopedia of Supramolecular Chemistry; Atwood, J., Steed, J., Eds. Marcel Dekker: New York, 2004, pp 535-545.

Sessler, J. L.; Jayawickramarajah, J.; Sathiosatham, M.; Sherman, C. L.; Brodbelt, J. S. A novel guanosine-cytidine dinucleoside that self-assembles into a trimeric supramolecule. Org. Lett. 2003, 5, 2627-2630.