Dennis A. Dougherty Explained

Dennis A. Dougherty
Birth Date:	December 4, 1952
Birth Place:	Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Nationality:	American
Field:	Chemistry Neuroscience
Alma Mater:	Bucknell University B.S/M.S (1974) Princeton University Ph.D (1978) Yale University post-doctoral (1979)
Work Institution:	Caltech
Academic Advisors:	Kurt Mislow
Doctoral Students:	Lisa McElwee-White
Prizes:	Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching (2010) Arthur C. Cope Award (2020)

Dennis A. Dougherty (born December 4, 1952, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) is the George Grant Hoag Professor of Chemistry at California Institute of Technology. His research applies physical organic chemistry to systems of biological importance. Dougherty utilizes a variety of approaches to further our understanding of the human brain, including the in vivo nonsense suppression methodology for incorporating unnatural amino acids into a variety of ion channels for structure-function studies.

Education

Dougherty received his B.S. and M.S. in 1974 from Bucknell University. Subsequently, he earned his Ph.D. in 1978 under the supervision of Kurt Mislow at Princeton University and was a post-doctoral scholar in Jerome Berson's lab at Yale University in 1979.

Career

In 1979 Dougherty became a member of the Caltech faculty, earning tenure in 1985. He is the scientific co-founder of Neurion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. In 2005 he published a textbook entitled Modern Physical Organic Chemistry with co-author Eric V. Anslyn.

Dougherty is the recipient of multiple teaching awards including the Richard Badger Teaching Award (1992), the ASCIT Excellence in Teaching Award (1987 and 2000), and the Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching (2010).^[1] ^[2] In 2009, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.^[3]

Cation-π Interaction

See main article: cation–pi interaction.

Selected publications

P.. Lester. Hanek . A. . A.. A stereochemical test of a proposed structural feature of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. Dougherty. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 130. 40. 13216–13218. Oct 2008 . 0002-7863. 18781739. 10.1021/ja8015457.
A.. Cys-loop neuroreceptors: structure to the rescue?. Chemical Reviews. 108. 5. 1642–1653. May 2008 . 0009-2665. 18447378. Dougherty. 10.1021/cr078207z.
A.. Physical organic chemistry on the brain. The Journal of Organic Chemistry. 73. 10. 3667–3673. May 2008 . 0022-3263. 18412391. Dougherty. 10.1021/jo8001722. 3206029.
Lester . J.. Dougherty. Wang . A.. A.. Establishing an ion pair interaction in the homomeric rho1 gamma-aminobutyric acid type a receptor that contributes to the gating pathway. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 282. 36. 26210–26216. Sep 2007 . 0021-9258. 17606618. 10.1074/jbc.M702314200. free.
Lester . A.. Dougherty. Rodriguez . A. . A.. In vivo incorporation of multiple unnatural amino acids through nonsense and frameshift suppression. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 103. 23. 8650–8655. Jun 2006 . 0027-8424. 16728509. 1482635. 10.1073/pnas.0510817103. 2006PNAS..103.8650R . free.
C.. Broadhurst . L. . W.. Beene. Lee. Dougherty. Lester . A. . W. . A.. Cis-trans isomerization at a proline opens the pore of a neurotransmitter-gated ion channel. Nature. 438. 7065. 248–252. Nov 2005 . 0028-0836. 16281040. Lummis. 10.1038/nature04130. 2005Natur.438..248L . 4410775 .
X. . P.. Hanek. Wang. J. . A.. Lester . A.. A unified view of the role of electrostatic interactions in modulating the gating of Cys loop receptors. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 280. Dougherty. 50. 41655–41666. Dec 2005 . 0021-9258. 16216879. Xiu. 10.1074/jbc.M508635200. free.
S. . I.. Petersson. Dibas. Auyeung . J.. Bezanilla . C. . B. . F.. Lester. Chanda . A. . A.. A fluorophore attached to nicotinic acetylcholine receptor βM2 detects productive binding of agonist to the αδ site. Dougherty. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 101. 27. 10195–10200. Jul 2004 . 0027-8424. 15218096. 454187. Dahan. 10.1073/pnas.0301885101. 2004PNAS..10110195D . free.
12850209. Beene. Jun 2003 . D. D.. Dougherty . D. A.. Lester . H. A.. Unnatural amino acid mutagenesis in mapping ion channel function. 13. 3. 264–270. 0959-4388. Current Opinion in Neurobiology. 10.1016/S0959-4388(03)00068-0. 12413271.
41. Cation-pi interactions in ligand recognition by serotonergic (5-HT3A) and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors: the anomalous binding properties of nicotine. 10262–10269 . D. B.. Aug 2002. Beene. 0006-2960. 32. Biochemistry. 10.1021/bi020266d. 12162741. Brandt . G. S.. Zhong . W.. Zacharias . N. M.. Lester . H. A.. Dougherty . D. A..
9770444. Oct 1998 . Zhong . W.. Gallivan . J. P.. Zhang . Y.. Li . L.. Lester . H. A.. Dougherty . D. A.. From ab initio quantum mechanics to molecular neurobiology: A cation–π binding site in the nicotinic receptor. 95. 21. 12088–12093. 0027-8424. 22789. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 10.1073/pnas.95.21.12088. 1998PNAS...9512088Z . free .
11851453. Aug 1997 . D. A.. The Cationminus signpi Interaction. 97. 5. 1303–1324. 0009-2665. Chemical Reviews. 10.1021/cr9603744. Ma . J. C. . Dougherty .
8982168. Dec 1996 . H. . Zhong . W. . Dougherty . D. A. . Lester . H. A.. Determinants of nicotinic receptor gating in natural and unnatural side chain structures at the M2 9' position. 17. 6. 1221–1229. 0896-6273. Neuron. 10.1016/S0896-6273(00)80252-4. Kearney . P. C. . Zhang . free .
8913372. Nov 1996. Kearney . P. N. . M. W. . Zhong. W. . Silverman. S. K. . Lester. H. A. . Dougherty. D. A.. Dose-response relations for unnatural amino acids at the agonist binding site of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor: tests with novel side chains and with several agonists. 50. 5. 1401–1412. 0026-895X. Molecular Pharmacology. Nowak.
2274786. Dec 1990 . Dougherty . D. A.. Stauffer . D. A.. Acetylcholine binding by a synthetic receptor: implications for biological recognition. 250. 4987. 1558–1560. 0036-8075. Science. 10.1126/science.2274786. 1990Sci...250.1558D . 20210121 .

Awards

Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar (1984–1989)
AstraZeneca Excellence in Chemistry Award (1991)
Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (1992)
Javits Neuroscience Investigator, NIH (2004)
ACS James Flack Norris Award in Physical Organic Chemistry (2008)
Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching (2010)
Arthur C. Cope Award (2020)

Professional memberships

- - - - Phi Beta Kappa American Chemical Society American Association for the Advancement of Science Biophysical Society Society for Neuroscience
National Academy of Sciences (2009)
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1994)
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1999)

Personal life

He currently lives in South Pasadena with his wife Dr. Ellen Dougherty, the superintendent of the Lawndale Elementary School District.^[4]

References

Web site: Caltech Today - Caltech. The California Institute of Technology. 10 August 2017.
Web site: Richard P. Feynman Prize for Excellence in Teaching - Caltech Office of the Provost. Provost.caltech.edu. 10 August 2017.
Web site: 72 New Members Chosen By Academy. 8.nationa.lacademies.org. 10 August 2017.
Web site: Lawndale Elementary School District. dead. 2010-06-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20090831052737/http://www.lawndale.k12.ca.us/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=55706&type=d&rn=8044283. 2009-08-31.