Associate Professor, Chemistry
School of Physical Sciences

chemical biology, molecular imaging, organic chemistry, immunology, bioorthogonal chemistry, post-translational modifications

Group Website

Susan G. Komen Postdoctoral Fellow, 2008-2010
Stanford Molecular Imaging Scholar, 2007-2010
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Predoctoral Fellow, 2001-2006
UC Berkeley Outstanding Graduate Instructor, 2002
American Chemical Society Outstanding Graduate, 2001

Susan G. Komen postdoctoral fellow, Stanford University, 2008-2010

The Prescher lab focuses on the development of chemical tools and noninvasive imaging strategies to probe immune function. The immune system comprises a vast network of disease-fighting cells that defend the body against multiple threats, but how these cells communicate over space and time to eliminate pathogens, cancer cells, and other hazards is not completely understood. The Prescher group aims to understand the complex interactions that underlie immune function by visualizing immune cells “in action”. In the lab, researchers utilize a combination of chemical and biological techniques to equip cells with various imaging probes. These probes are then used to track the movements, interactions, and functions of immune cells in whole organisms. Collectively, these studies are bringing chemistry from the test tube into living subjects, and illuminating the mechanisms employed by the immune system to combat disease.

[22] Patterson, D. M.; Nazarova, L. A.; Xie, B. J.; Kamber, D. N.; Prescher, J. A. Functionalized cyclopropenes as bioorthogonal chemical reporters. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, ASAP.

[21] McCutcheon, D. C.; Paley, M. A.; Steinhardt, R. C.; Prescher, J. A. Expedient synthesis of electronically modified luciferins for bioluminescence imaging. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 7604-7607.

[20] Prescher, J. A.; Contag, C. H. Imaging mouse models of human cancer. In “Mouse Models for Cancer Research: Generation and Applications for Research and Pre-clinical Testing,” 2011, Eds (Springer): Green, J. and Ried, T.

[19] Liu, H.*; Patel, M. R.*; Prescher, J. A.*; Qian, D.; Chang, Y.; Lin, J.; Wen, S.; Shimono, Y.; Dalerba, P. D.; Adorno, M.; Lobo, N.; Dirbas, F. M.; Bueno, J.; Gambhir, S. S.; Contag, C. H.; Clarke, M. F.; Cancer stem cells from human breast tumors are involved in spontaneous metastases in orthotopic mouse models. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2010, 107, 18115-18120.

[18] .Helms, M. W.; Prescher, J. A.; Thorne, S. H.; Contag, C. H. Educating cytokine-induced killer cells with IL-12 in vivo for breast cancer treatment. Cancer Immunol. Immunother. 2010, 9, 1325-1334.

[17] Prescher, J. A.; Contag C. H. Guided by the light: visualizing biomolecular processes in living animals. Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 2010, 14, 80-89

[16] Muia, R. P.; Yu, H.; Prescher, J. A.; Hellman, U.; Chen, X.; Bertozzi, C. R.; Campetella, O. Identification of glycoproteins targeted by Trypanosoma cruzi trans-sialidase, a virulence factor that disturbs lymphocyte glycosylation. Glycobiology 2010, <,i>20, 833-842.

[15] Chang, P. V.*; Prescher, J. A.*; Sletten, E. M.; Baskin, J. M.; Miller, I. A.; Agard, N. J.; Lo, A.; Berotzzi, C. R. Copper-free click chemistry in living animals. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2010, in press. [*these authors contributed equally to this work]

[14] Yap, M.; Kostiuk, M. A.; Hak, P.; Anjaiah, S.; Majjigapum, J. R.; Keller, B. O.; Prescher, J. A.; Wu, P.; Bertozzi, C. R.; Falck, J. R.; Berthiaume, L. G. Detection of palmitoylated proteins with an alkynyl-palmitate analogue in vitro, in cultured cells, and in vivo using click chemistry. J. Lipid Res. 2010, in press.

[13] Schultz, D. M.; Prescher, J. A.; Kidd, S.; Marona-Lewicka, D.; Nichols, D. E.; Monte, A. ‘Hybrid’ benzofuran-benzopyran congeners as rigid analogs of hallucinogenic phenethylamines. Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2008, 16, 6242-6251.

[12] Martin, D. D. O.; Vila, G. L.; Prescher, J. A.; Rajaiah, G.; Falck, J. R.; Bertozzi, C. R.; Berthiaume, L. G. Rapid detection and identification of new post-translationally myristoylated proteins during apoptosis using a bioorthogonal azido-myristate analogue. FASEB J. 2008, 22, 797-806.

[11] Kostiuk, M. A.; Corvi, M. M.; Keller, B. O.; Plummer, G.; Prescher, J. A.; Hangauer, M. J.; Bertozzi, C. R.; Rajaiah, G.; Falck, J. R.; Berthiaume, L. G. Identification of palmitoylated mitochondrial proteins using a bioorthogonal azido-palmitate analogue. FASEB J. 2008, 22, 721-732.

[10] Baskin, J. M.; Prescher, J. A.; Laughlin, S. T.; Agard, N. J.; Chang, P. V.; Miller, I. A.; Lo, A.; Codelli, J. A.; Bertozzi, C. R. Copper-free click chemistry for dynamic in vivo imaging. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2007, 104, 16793-16797.

[9] Chang, P. V.; Prescher, J. A.; Hangauer, M. J.; Bertozzi, C. R. Imaging cell surface glycans with bioorthogonal chemical reporters. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 8400-8401.

[8] Agard, N. J.*; Baskin, J. M.*; Prescher, J. A.; Lo, A.; Bertozzi, C. R. A comparative study of bioorthogonal reactions with azides. ACS Chem. Biol. 2006, 1, 644-648. [*these authors contributed equally to this work]

[7] Laughlin, S. T.; Agard, N. J.; Baskin, J. M.; Carrico, I. M.; Chang, P. V.; Ganguli, A. S.; Hangauer, M. J.; Lo, A.; Prescher, J. A.; Bertozzi, C. R. Metabolic labeling of glycans with azidosugars for visualization and glycoproteomics. Methods Enzymol. 2006, 415, 230-250.

[6] Prescher, J. A.; Bertozzi, C. R. Chemical technologies for perturbing, visualizing, and profiling glycans. Cell 2006, 126, 851-854.

[5] Link, A. J.; Vink, M. K. S.; Agard, N. J.; Prescher, J. A.; Bertozzi, C. R.; Tirrell, D. A. Identification of novel aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase activity via cell-surface display of non-canonical amino acids. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2006, 103, 10810-10815.

[4] Dube, D. H.*; Prescher, J. A.*; Quang, C. N.; Bertozzi, C. R. Probing mucin-type O-linked glycosylation in living animals. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2006, 103, 4819-4824. [*these authors contributed equally to this work]

[3] Prescher, J. A.; Bertozzi, C. R. Chemistry in living systems. Nat. Chem. Biol. 2005, 1, 13-21.

[2] Agard, N. J.; Prescher, J. A.; Bertozzi, C. R. A strain-promoted [3+2] azide-alkyne cycloaddition for covalent modification of biomolecules in living systems. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 15046-15047.

[1] Prescher, J. A.*; Dube, D. H.*; Bertozzi, C. R. Chemical remodeling of cell surfaces in living animals. Nature 2004, 430, 873-877. [*these authors contributed equally to this work]

American Chemical Society, 1997-present

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https://faculty.uci.edu/profile/?facultyId=5701

Last updated
11/17/2016