Susquehanna Valley Section

September 2009 Meeting

The three hundred and eighty fourth meeting of the American Chemical Society Susquehanna Valley Section will be held on Wednesday, 9 September 2009 at Bucknell University. A social hour and dinner will be followed by a guest presentation entitled entitled Chemistry on the Brain: Understanding the Nicotine Receptor by Dennis A. Dougherty of Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology.

Social Hour: 5:00 p.m. faculty lounge of the Langone Center
Dinner: 6:00 p.m. Room 241 of the Langone Center
Meeting and Presentation: 7:30 p.m. in Room 116 of the Rooke Chemistry Building

Dinner: Dinner entrees will be a buffet dinner including a vegetarian option and dessert. The cost will be $13 per person. Please RSVP to Suellen Beck by email sb047@bucknell.edu or phone 570.577.3258 by Wednesday, 9 September 2009.

Directions: see below

Chemistry on the Brain: Understanding the Nicotine Receptor

The initial chemical event of nicotine addiction involves nicotine binding to and activating acetylcholine (ACh) receptors in the brain. ACh receptors, like most of the key molecules of the brain, are complex, integral membrane proteins that are resistant to the standard tools of structural biology and biochemistry. We have developed tools that allow us to modify these receptors with unprecedented precision, enabling chemical-scale studies of their structure and function. We have discovered that an essential component in the binding of ACh, nicotine, and many other neurotransmitters and psychoactive drugs to their receptors is the cation-π interaction. This is a universal, noncovalent attraction between any type of cation and the face of a π system, such as found in ethylene or benzene. We will describe the essential nature of the cation-π interaction, and show how this binding force plays an critical role in the chemistry of nicotine addiction.

Professor Dennis A. Dougherty was born in Harrisburg, PA and received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Bucknell University in 1974, working with Professor Mel Winstead. He did his doctoral research at Princeton University with Kurt Mislow and a year of post-doctoral studies with Jerome Berson at Yale University. Dougherty joined the faculty in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology in 1979, where he is now the George Grant Hoag Professor of Chemistry and Chair of the Faculty.

Dougherty is perhaps best known for development of the cation-π interaction, a novel but potent binding interaction between molecules that plays a central role in establishing protein structures and in modulating drug-receptor interactions. The fundamental nature of the interaction was established through extensive theoretical and model studies by the Dougherty group. Dougherty also established the prevalence of the cation-π interaction in biological systems, and it is now recognized to be important in a wide range biological processes.

More recently, Dougherty has addressed molecular neurobiology, applying the mindset and tools of physical organic chemistry to the complex proteins of neuroscience √ the molecules of memory, thought, and sensory perception; of Alzheimer≠s, Parkinson≠s, and schizophrenia. In collaboration with Professor Henry Lester, Dougherty developed the first system to employ nonsense suppression methods to incorporate unnatural amino acids into receptors and channels expressed in living cells, allowing detailed studies of Cys-loop receptors (nicotinic ACh, 5-HT₃, GABAA, and glycine receptors), K⁺ channels, Na⁺ channels, GPCRs, and other integral membrane proteins. Through these efforts, Dougherty has produced fundamental insights into drug-receptor interactions and the signaling mechanisms they can lead to.

Professor Dougherty's research has been recognized with a number of awards, including election to the National Academy of Sciences, the ACS James Flack Norris Award for Physical Organic Chemistry, the AstraZeneca Excellence in Chemistry Award, the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, and recognition as an NIH Javits Investigator in Neuroscience. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science. He is also the co-author with Professor Eric Anslyn of the influential textbook, Modern Physical Organic Chemistry.

Directions:

East of Lewisburg:

1. Route 80 West to Exit 210A
2. Route 15 South
3. Travel south to Lewisburg.
4. After passing the soccer fields on the right, turn left into the university and follow the campus map. (Look for the Bucknell Athletic Stadium on the left.)

West of Lewisburg:

1. Route 80 East to Exit 210A
2. Route 15 South
3. Travel south to Lewisburg.
4. After passing the soccer fields on the right, turn left into the university and follow the campus map. (Look for the Bucknell Athletic Stadium on the left.)

South of Lewisburg:

1. Routes 11&15 North
2. When Routes 11 & 15 split, stay on Route 15 (Tedd's Landing is on your right; KMart on your left)
3. Approx. 7 miles after Selinsgrove / Shamokin Dam, you'll come to a stop light. Bucknell is on your right. (Look for the Bucknell Athletic Stadium on right.)

North of Lewisburg:

1. Take route 15 south.
2. Once past route 80, continue south to Lewisburg.
3. After passing the soccer fields on the right, turn left into the university and follow the campus map. (Look for the Bucknell Athletic Stadium on the left.)

Once on campus: Follow the campus map to the visitor parking designated with a P (white on blue back-ground).
More parking information.
A parking map of Bucknell.

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