Vanderbilt University

Ned A. Porter, Ph.D.

Richard N. Armstrong Ph.D.Stevenson Professor and Chair of Chemistry

Associate Director, Vanderbilt Institute of Chemical Biology

Ph.D., Harvard University, 1970 (Organic Chemistry)

Research involves free radical chemistry and the chemistry of biological membranes and lipoproteins. The mechanisms of the free radical reactions of natural products, such as lipids and phospholipids, with molecular oxygen are complex and involve initiation, propagation, inhibition, and termination steps. The research is centered on the chemistry of peroxyl free radicals, hydroperoxides, and peroxides, the intermediates and primary products of the free radical chain reaction. Another subject is degradation products of lipid free radical oxidative pathways, including reactive species such as 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal and other small carbonyl fragments. Reaction of lipids in lipoproteins is potentially important in the deposition of arterial plaque, and current studies involve reactions of free radicals in lipoproteins and effects of antioxidants (Vitamins E and C).

Recent Publications

Schneider C, Pratt DA, Porter NA, Brash AR. Control of oxygenation in lipoxygenase and cyclooxygenase catalysis. Chem Biol. 2007 14:473-88.

Yin H, Chacon A, Porter NA, Masterson DS. Free radical-induced site-specific peptide cleavage in the gas phase: low-energy collision-induced dissociation in ESI- and MALDI mass spectrometry. J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2007 18:807-16.

Tallman KA, Kim HY, Ji JX, Szapacs ME, Yin H, McIntosh TJ, Liebler DC, Porter NA. Phospholipid-protein adducts of lipid peroxidation: synthesis and study of new biotinylated phosphatidylcholines. Chem Res Toxicol. 2007 20:227-34.

Yin H, Gao L, Tai HH, Murphey LJ, Porter NA, Morrow JD. Urinary prostaglandin F2alpha is generated from the isoprostane pathway and not the cyclooxygenase in humans. J Biol Chem. 2007 282:329-36.

Davis TA, Gao L, Yin H, Morrow JD, Porter NA. In vivo and in vitro lipid peroxidation of arachidonate esters: the effect of fish oil omega-3 lipids on product distribution. J Am Chem Soc. 2006 128:14897-904.

Porter NA, Anderson HL, Al-Dujaily S. Renal cell carcinoma presenting as a solitary cutaneous facial metastasis: case report and review of the literature. Int Semin Surg Oncol. 2006 3:27.

Wijtmans M, Rosenthal SJ, Zwanenburg B, Porter NA. Visible light excitation of CdSe nanocrystals triggers the release of coumarin from cinnamate surface ligands. J Am Chem Soc. 2006 128:11720-6.

Chacon A, Masterson DS, Yin H, Liebler DC, Porter NA. N-Terminal amino acid side-chain cleavage of chemically modified peptides in the gas phase: a mass spectrometry technique for N-terminus identification. Bioorg Med Chem. 2006 14:6213-22.

Roschek B Jr, Tallman KA, Rector CL, Gillmore JG, Pratt DA, Punta C, Porter NA. Peroxyl radical clocks. J Org Chem. 2006 71:3527-32.

Gao L, Yin H, Milne GL, Porter NA, Morrow JD. Formation of F-ring isoprostane-like compounds (F3-isoprostanes) in vivo from eicosapentaenoic acid. J Biol Chem. 2006 281:14092-9.

Furse KE, Pratt DA, Schneider C, Brash AR, Porter NA, Lybrand TP. Molecular dynamics simulations of arachidonic acid-derived pentadienyl radical intermediate complexes with COX-1 and COX-2: insights into oxygenation regio- and stereoselectivity. Biochemistry. 2006 45:3206-18.

Furse KE, Pratt DA, Porter NA, Lybrand TP. Molecular dynamics simulations of arachidonic acid complexes with COX-1 and COX-2: insights into equilibrium behavior. Biochemistry. 2006 45:3189-205.