PULSe Home > Faculty Members A-C > Donald Bergstrom

Walther Professor of Medicinal Chemistry Ph.D. - 1970 University of California Berkeley Contact Info: bergstrom@purdue.edu 765-494-6275 Training Group(s): Chemical Biology

Current Research Interests:

A major research effort in our laboratory is directed towards re-engineering DNA. The purpose of this work is primarily to construct modified nucleic acids for use as biochemical tools, diagnostic probes, or genetically targeted drugs. This research requires the design and synthesis of nucleic acid components (nucleosides) which can be incorporated into nucleic acids by automated synthesis. Two recent accomplishments in our laboratory include the discovery of a series of five membered ring derived nucleoside analogs which, when incorporated into DNA, function as wild cards, and completion of a study on the effects of pyrimidine C5 substitution on duplex DNA stability in order to optimize tethers for appending probes and other functional groups to synthetic nucleic acids.

Our laboratory collaborates extensively with other research groups, both at Purdue and throughout the world. A collaboration with Dr. V. J. Davisson (Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology) involves incorporating a series of modified nucleosides into DNA primers, and then using these primers in PCR DNA replication experiments to determine the coding properties of the modified nucleosides. An important goal of this project is to re-engineer proteins through introduction of controlled mutations using the modified nucleic acid bases.

In collaboration with researchers at Cornell University, nucleic acid components designed and synthesized in our laboratory are under study as components of the ligase detection reaction (LDR) to distinguish single-base mutations associated with genetic disease, including the detection of genetic mutations that occur in cancer

As an extension of our research on modified nucleobases, we have developed a set of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) end-caps which stabilize dsDNA by preventing melting of the duplex ends. Capped dsDNA is being investigated in collaboration with other researchers at Purdue in applications ranging from transcription factor inhibitors to nanoelectronic components. Collaborations are underway with faculty in the School of Engineering to develop new methods for linking nucleic acids to silicon, gold and platinum surfaces and re-engineer them to modify their electronic and optical properties.

Selected Publications:

Samir M. Iqbal, G. Balasundaram, Subhasis Ghosh, D. E. Bergstrom and R. Bashir, "Direct current electrical measurement of dsDNA in nanogap junctions", Applied Physics Letters 2005, 86, 153901.

Chengyue Shen, Shiyue Fang, Donald E. Bergstrom, and Ernest R. Blatchley. "(E)-5-[2-Methoxycarbonyl)ethenyl]cytidine as a Chemical Actinometer for Germicidal Radiation, Environmental Science & Technology, 2005, 39, 3826-3832.

Pei-Sze Ng and Donald E. Bergstrom, "Alternative Nucleic Acid Analogues for Programmable Assembly: Hybridization of LNA to PNA," Nano Letters 2005, 5, 107-111.

Donald E. Bergstrom, "Orthogonal Base-Pairs Continue to Evolve", Chemistry and Biology 2004, 11 (1), 18-20.

Pei-Sze Ng and Donald E. Bergstrom, "Protein-DNA footprinting by endcapped duplex oligodeoxyribonucleotides", Nucleic Acids Research 2004, 32, e107.

Shiyue Fang and Donald E. Bergstrom, "Reversible 5'-end Biotinylation and Affiinity Purification of Synthetic RNA," Tetrahedron Letters 2004, 45(43), 7987-7990.

Shiyue Fang and Donald E. Bergstrom, "Synthesis of a cryptand with tetrahedral connectivity using multiple ring-closing metathesis," Tetrahedron Letters 2004, 45, 8501-8504.