Shahriar Mobashery // People // Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry // University of Notre Dame

Shahriar Mobashery

Bioorganic Chemistry and Biochemistry

Biography

2003-present: Navari Family Professor in Life Sciences, University of Notre Dame
1997-2003: Professor, Wayne State University
1994-1997: Associate Professor, Wayne State University
1989-1994: Assistant Professor, Wayne State University
1986-1988: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Rockefeller University
1985: Ph.D. in Chemistry, University of Chicago
1981: B.S. in Chemistry, University of Southern California
1980: B.S. in Biological Sciences, University of Southern California

Selected Awards

2019: Emil Thomas Kaiser Award
2014-2016: Fellow, Science Without Borders, Brazil
2012: Research Achievement Award, University of Notre Dame
2007: Astellas USA Foundation Award of the American Chemical Society
2007: Elected Fellow, America Association for the Advancement of Science
1999-2001: Charles H. Gershenson Distinguished Faculty Fellow

Prof. Mobashery's Current CV

Research Interests

The Mobashery research program integrates computation, biochemistry, molecular biology, and the organic synthesis of medically important molecules. Bringing together these different disciplines is desirable to produce both scientific and medical advances for difficult, but critically important clinical problems.

Bacterial Antibiotic Resistance, Cell Wall and Discovery of Novel Antibiotics

The studies of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance are central themes in the Mobashery laboratory. Mechanisms of resistance to β-lactam antibiotics have been studied, with a focus on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa as two nefarious human bacterial pathogens. A multidisciplinary approach is taken towards elucidating the distinct strategies that nature has devised to counter the use of antibiotics in the clinic. Significant work has also been directed towards the bacterial cell wall. The cell wall is a structure that encases the entire organism, and it is critically important for its survival. Its complex biosynthesis and recycling are subjects of study. Discovery of novel antibacterials is another large focus of attention.

Diseases of the Extracellular Matrix

The Mobashery laboratory is interested in diseases of the extracellular matrix (ECM). The ECM is an environment that surrounds every cell in higher organisms. There are many proteins and carbohydrates within this environment, whose homeostasis is highly regulated. When these regulatory processes break down, many disparate diseases ensue. The Mobashery lab investigates how these diseases develop and progress, and designs novel therapeutics for their intervention. The diseases of matrix of interest in the Mobashery lab include diabetes, pulmonary fibrosis, traumatic-brain injury and stroke.

Recent Publications

Choi, Y.; Park, J. S.; Kim, J.; Min, K.; Mahasenan, K.; Kim, C.; Yoon, H. J.; Lim, S.; Cheon, D. H.; Lee, Y.; Ryu, S.; Mobashery, S.; Kim, B. M. and Lee, H. H. "Structure-Based Inhibitor Design for Reshaping Bacterial Morphology" 2022 Communications Biology, 5 (1), 395. DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03355-3.
Smith, T. E.; Lee, M.; Person, M. D.; Hesek, D.; Mobashery, S. and Moran, N. A. "Horizontal-Acquisition of a Promiscuous Peptidoglycan-Recycling Enzyme Enables Aphids to Influence Symbiont Cell Wall Metabolism" 2021 Mbio, 12 (6), e02636-21. DOI: 10.1128/mBio.02636-21.
Martinez-Caballero, S.; Mahasenan, K. V.; Kim, C.; Molina, R.; Feltzer, R.; Lee, M.; Bouley, R.; Hesek, D.; Fisher, J. F.; Munoz, I. G.; Chang, M.; Mobashery, S. and Hermoso, J. A. "Integrative Structural Biology of the Penicillin-Binding Protein-1 from Staphylococcus Aureus, an Essential Component of the Divisome Machinery" 2021 Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, 19 pp.5392-5405. DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2021.09.018.
Kim, C.; Mahasenan, K. V.; Bhardwaj, A.; Wiest, O.; Chang, M. and Mobashery, S. "Production of Proteins of the SARS-CoV-2 Proteome for Drug Discovery" 2021 ACS Omega, 6 (30), pp.19983-19994. DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.1c02984.
Speri, E.; Qian, Y. Y.; Janardhanan, J.; Masitas, C.; Lastochkin, E.; De Benedetti, S.; Wang, M.; Schroeder, V. A.; Wolter, W. R.; Oliver, A. G.; Fisher, J. F.; Mobashery, S. and Chang, M. L. "Structure-Activity Relationship for the Picolinamide Antibacterials that Selectively Target Clostridioides Difficile" 2021 ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 12 (6), pp.991-995. DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.1c00135.
Gabriel, C.; Nguyen, T. T.; Gargano, E. M.; Fisher, J. F.; Chang, M. L. and Mobashery, S. "Metabolism of the Selective Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Inhibitor (R)-ND-336" 2021 ACS Pharmacology & Translational Science, 4 (3), pp.1204-1213. DOI: 10.1021/acsptsci.1c00063.

Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry