RESEARCH SUMMARY
Research Goals:
Drug Screening, discovery, and modification on small molecules against tissue inflammatory diseases including Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and Liver cirrhosis; cancers including Hepatocyte Carcinoma (HCC), Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), and Prostate cancer (PC); metabolism disorder including Diabetes.
Discovery of novel drugs in immunotherapy
Responsibilities:
Computational drug designs
Small molecule microarray for High Throughput Screening (HTS)
Organic synthesis (multi-step modern synthesis strategies)
Biological studies: in vitro bioassays and in vivo drug pharmacological profile studies
EDUCATION:
Georgia Institution of Technology (Ph.D.) Atlanta, GA
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Thesis: Discovery of Novel drugs with tissue and cell-type selectivity for cancer and inflammation
Marquette University (B.S.) Milwaukee, WI
Klingler College of Arts and Sciences
Bachelor of Science in Chemistry
Minor in Mathematics
RELATED EXPERIENCE:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Postdoc.) Boston, MA 2022
1. Leader of drug screening and discovery on the immunotherapy-related TOX protein
Georgia Tech Chemistry & Biochemistry Department (Post Doc.) Atlanta, GA 2021
1. Leader of project on novel KDM inhibitor discovery against Breast cancer and Liver cancer
2. Leader of novel Steroid derivatives against Prostate cancer
Georgia Tech Chemistry & Biochemistry Department (Ph.D.) Atlanta, GA 2015-2021
1. Lead for novel anti-fibrotic agents for Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF).
2. Invention of a novel macrolide-based anti-cancer agent.
3. Design and invention novel anti-ROS agents for cancer treatment.
4. Invention of triple negative breast cancer-selective histone deacetylase inhibitors. (Published)
5. Discovery of novel STAT3 inhibitors targeting STAT3 DNA binding domain. (Published)
6. Characterization of liver-tissue targeting histone deacetylase inhibitors. (Published)
7. Managing and biological investigation of novel indole-based COX-1 inhibitors. (accepted)
8. Delivery of Virus-Like Particles (VLP) Mediated by Macrolide Antibiotics as drug delivery system. (Published)
9. Design of novel small molecule Gαi2 inhibitors. (Published)
10. Initiate and design of project on novel TBK1 inhibitors as anti-Diabetes agents.
Hunan Nucien Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Guangzhou, China
Research scientist (Internship) Feb, 2015 – Apr, 2015
Synthesis and purification on anti-allergy compounds
Skills
Small molecule Microarrays (SMMs) for drug screening.
Synthesis skills:
Named synthesis: Sonogashira coupling, Heck coupling, Suzuki coupling, Hoveyda-Grubbs olefin metathesis, Swern Oxidation, Pinnick oxidation, Dess-martin Oxidation, Grignard Reaction, etc.
Modern synthetic strategies: Heterocyclic synthesis or substitution, acid-base conjugation, Azide-alkyne Huisgen cycloaddition, N- or C- alkylation, Functional group protections and deprotections, etc.
Modern Purification methods: solvent extraction, Preparative TLC, silica column chromatography, Crystallization, HPLC purification.
Characterization: Mass spectroscopy, proton and carbon NMR, IR, LC/MS, X-ray crystallography.
Biological skills:
in vitro and in vivo
In vitro Target Validation: Western blotting, rtPCR, Bioassay kits
Cell cycle studies with use of Cell flowcytometry.
Pull-down assay and silver staining for target validation study
Experience for in vivo studies: Organ harvest, IP injection, Histology and Sectioning on purpose of drug development for PK profile.
Professional Academic Software: Prism, Mestrenova, Chemdraw office, Auto-dock Vina, Pyrx, Pymol, Biorender, FlowJo, BD FACSDiva, LI-COR Image Studio.
Lab equipment: HPLC, NMR, GC, UV Spectroscopy, Odyssey Imaging system, PCR, IR spectroscopy.
Editing software: Photoshop, Microsoft offices, Python
Language: English, Chinese.
JOURNAL REVIEWED
Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry 2019-present
Scientific Report, Nature 2020-present
Bioorganic chemistry 2021-present
PROFESSIONAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP
ACS member 2019-present
AACR scholar member 2018-present
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS:
Bocheng Wu. ‘Novel HDACi to suppress HCC tumor growth’. Presented at Global Webinar on Chemistry and Applied Sciences. Oral Presentation. 2021
Bocheng Wu. ‘Pyrimethamine derivatives as novel STAT3 inhibitors disrupt DNA binding and induce cytotoxicity to cancers’. Presented at ACS National meeting 2021. Poster presentation. 2021
Bocheng Wu. ‘Novel Macrolide HDACi to suppress Liver cancer tumor growth with HDAC class I selectivity’ School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Annual Retreat. Oral Presentation. 2020
Bocheng Wu. ‘Pyrimethamine derivatives as a novel STAT3 inhibitor’ School of Chemistry and Biochemistry Special Summer Seminar Series. Oral Presentation. 2020
Bocheng Wu. ‘HDAC-STAT3 inhibitors that target to Triple Negative Breast Cancer’ 2019 Graduate Student Research Symposium. Poster Presentation. 2020
Bocheng Wu. ‘HDAC-STAT3 inhibitors that target to Triple Negative Breast Cancer’ Festival of Research Ideas in Cancer Biology and Technology. Poster Presentation. 2019
Bocheng Wu, Shaghayegh Fathi, Shanee Mortly, Adegboyega Oyelere. HDAC-STAT3 inhibitors that target to Triple Negative Breast Cancer. presented at AACR annual meeting. Poster Presentation. 2019
Bocheng Wu, Stephen N. Crooke, Jiri Schimer, Idris Raji, Adegboyega Oyelere, and M.G. Finn. Macrolide Mediated Macrophage Uptake of Polymeric Cargoes. presented at The 70th Southeastern Regional Meeting of American Chemistry Society. Poster Presentation. 2018
PATENTS
1. Oyelere, A.K., Tapadar, S., Wu, B., (2021). Glycosylated Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors and Methods of Making and Using the same. (U.S. Application No. 63/079,260). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
2. Oyelere, A. K., Wu, B. Compositions and Methods for Inhibiting Fibrosis, Inflammation, and Cancers. (U.S. Application No. 63/079,264). U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS:
1. Wu, B., Sodji, Q. H., Oyelere, A. K. Inflammation, Fibrosis and Cancer: Mechanisms, Therapeutic Options and Challenges. Cancers. 2022, 14, 3; DOI:10.3390/cancers14030552.
2. Faura, G. G., Wu, B., Oyelere, A. K., & France, S. Synthetic Methodology-Enabled Discovery of a Tunable Indole Template for COX-1 Inhibition and Anti-cancer activity. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry. 2022 116633.
3. Owumi1, S. E. Kazeem, B. I., Wu, B., Isokhare, L. O., Arunsi, U. O., Nwozo, S. O., Oyelere, A. K. Apigeninidin-rich Sorghum bicolor (L. Moench) extracts suppress A549 cells proliferation and ameliorate toxicity of Aflatoxin B1-mediated liver and kidney derangement in rats. Sci. Rep. 2022 (Reviewing).
4. Wu, B., Payero, B., Taylor, S., Oyelere, A. K. Discovery of novel STAT3 DNA binding domain inhibitors. Fut. Med. Chem. 2021 13(15), 1253-1269. DOI:10.4155/fmc-2021-0088.
5. Wu, B. Discovery of novel drugs with tissue and cell-type selectivity for cancer and inflammation. (Doctoral dissertation, Georgia Institute of Technology). 2021.
6. Tapadar, S.; Fathi, S.; Wu, B.; Sun, C.Q.; Raji, I.; Moore, S.G.; Arnold, R.S.; Gaul, D.A.; Petros, J.A.; Oyelere, A.K. Liver-Targeting Class I Selective Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors Potently Suppress Hepatocellular Tumor Growth as Standalone Agents. Cancers 2020, 12, 3095; DOI: 10.3390/cancers12113095.
7. Caggia, S., Tapadar, S., Garrett, A., Wu, B., Venugopal, S. V., Garrett, A. S., Kumar, A., Stiffend, J. S., Davis, J. S., Oyelere, A. K., Khan, S. A. Small molecule inhibitors targeting Gαi2 protein attenuate migration of cancer cells. Cancers 2020, 12, 1631; DOI:10.3390/cancers12061631.
8. Wu, B.; Fathi, S.; Mortley, S.; Mohiuddin, M.; Jang, Y. C.; Oyelere, A. K. Pyrimethamine conjugated histone deacetylase inhibitors: design, synthesis and evidence for triple negative breast cancer selective cytotoxicity. Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2020, 28, 115345; DOI: 10.1016/j.bmc.2020.115345.
9. Crooke, S. N., Schimer, J., Raji, I., Wu, B., Oyelere, A. K., Finn, M. G. Lung Tissue Delivery of Virus-Like Particles Mediated by Macrolide Antibiotics. Mol. Pharm. 2019, 16, 2947-2955. DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.9b00180.
Teaching Experience
General Chemistry (Chem 1310)
General Chemistry (Chem 1211K, Chem 1212K)
Biochemistry I and II (Chem 4511, Chem 4512)
Survey of Biochemistry (Chem3511-A)
Organic Synthesis lab (Chem 2380)
Mentorship (Undergraduate research mentor)
Shanee Mortley (in vitro study) 2017 fall- 2018 Summer
Oludamilola T Taiwo (Organic Synthesis) 2018 Summer and Fall
Sara Zimmerman (in vitro study) 2018 Summer
Benny Payero (Organic Synthesis) 2019 Spring and Fall, 2020 Spring
Kate Bullock (in vitro study) 2019 Spring and Summer
Hassan Asif (in vitro study and Virtual screening) 2019 Fall to 2020 Spring
Mikhil Patel (Organic Synthesis and Virtual Screening) 2019 Fall
Justin P. Keener (Drug design) 2020 Fall
Andrew W. Frazier (Drug design) 2020 Fall
HONORS & AWARDS
1. Runner Award of presentation at Annual Graduate Symposium in Georgia Tech May. 2021
2. Winner of 2021 Suddath Honorable Mention Award Dec. 2020
3. Winner of 2020 ATCC innovative Challenge Dec. 2020
4. Winner of Merck Index Award for Top Undergraduate chemistry senior May 2014
5. The Best Competitor of Undergraduate Research Presentation Competition May 2014
6. Dean’s List Recipient fall 2011, spring 2012, fall 2013, spring 2014
7. Ignatius Academic Scholarship 2011-2014