Associate Professor of Chemistry
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1994
david.wright@vanderbilt.edu
Wright Research Group

Bioinorganic and Biomaterials Chemistry
Biomineralization results in an expansive array of complex materials ranging from laminate composites and ceramics such as bones, teeth, and shells to magnetic materials such as the forms of magnetite found in magnetobacteria. It also produces non-linear optical materials, such as the unique peptide-coated cadmium sulfide particles which result from heavy metal detoxification mechanisms within some yeast and plants. These natural biominerals often represent unique crystal forms extending over several size domains that are synthesized in aqueous solutions at room temperature and standard pressure. Additionally, many of these crystal forms, and their associated properties, cannot be readily produced in the laboratory! Biomineralization processes also play important roles in the pathologies of a number of diseases including osteoporosis and malaria. Understanding these processes is leading to novel discoveries ranging from new materials to new therapeutic advances for the treatment of disease.

The primary focus of research in our group is the design, synthesis and characterization of organic templates capable of mediating the growth of biological important biominerals. Specific studies underway in our labs include:

• Mechanistic and structural studies of the scaffold biopolymers that nucleate the critical detoxification mineral hemozoin within the digestive vacuole of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.
• Role of hemozoin in the modulation of host innate immune system response. Reactivity studies between hemozoin and fatty acid substrates indicate a wide distribution of highly immunomodulatory products including hydroxylated fatty acids, isoprostanes and prostaglandinds.
• The use of combinatorial chemistry to understand the role of matrix peptides in the formations of monodisperse biogenic nanocrystals. These studies will yield functionalized building blocks for the construction of novel nanodevices
• Diatoms form diverse nanopatterned silica structures. In contrast to many current materials approaches to the synthesis of patterned silica, biogenic silica is formed rapidly under mild conditions mediated by a highly post-translationally modified peptide. We are taking a wide variety of approaches in not only understanding the function of such peptides, but also in applying our methods to the design of new functionalized SiO₂ materials.

Selected Publications

Schrimpe AC, Wright DW. Comparative Analysis of Gene Expression Changes Mediated by Individual Constituents of Hemozoin. Chemical Research in Toxicology. 2009, 22 (3): 433-445.

Eklund SE, Thompson RG, Snider RM, Carney CK, Wright DW, Wikswo J, Cliffel DE. Metabolic Discrimination of Select List Agents by Monitoring Cellular Responses in a Multianalyte Microphysiometer. Sensors. 2009, 9 (3): 2117-2133.

Swartz JD, Miller SA, Wright DW. Rapid Production of Nitrilase Containing Silica Nanoparticles Offers an Effective and Reusable Biocatalyst for Synthetic Nitrile Hydrolysis. Organic Process Research & Development. 2009, 13 (3): 584-589.

Rutledge RD, Huffman BJ, Cliffel DE, Wright DW. Design and synthesis of an antigenic mimic of the Ebola glycoprotein. Journal of Materials Research. 2008, 23 (12): 3161-3168.

Sewell SL, Rutledge RD, Wright DW. Versatile biomimetic dendrimer templates used in the formation of TiO2 and GeO2. Dalton Transactions. 2008, 29: 3857-3865.

Mok H, Lee S, Wright DW, Crowe JE. Enhancement of the CD8(+) T cell response to a subdominant epitope of respiratory syncytial virus by deletion of an immunodominant epitope. Vaccine. 2008, 26 (37): 4775-4782.

Carney CK, Harry SR, Sewell SL, Wright DW. Detoxification biominerals. Biomineralization I: Crystallization and Self-Organization Process Topics in Current Chemistry. 2007, 270: 155-185.

Carter MD, Harry SR, Wright DW. Identification of hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid components of schistosomal hemozoin. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 2007, 363 (3): 867-872.

Miller SA, Tollefson S, Crowe JE, Williams JV, Wright DW. Examination of a fusogenic hexameric core from human metapneumovirus and identification of a potent synthetic peptide inhibitor from the heptad repeat 1 region. Journal of Virology. 2007, 81 (1): 141-149.

Lee SJ, Miller SA, Wright DW, Rock MT, Crowe JE. Tissue-specific regulation of CD8(+) T-lymphocyte immunodominance in respiratory syncytial virus infection. Journal of Virology. 2007, 81 (5): 2349-2358.

Sewell SL, Wright DW. Biomimetic synthesis of titanium dioxide utilizing the R5 peptide derived from Cylindrotheca fusiformis. Chemistry of Materials. 2006, 18 (13): 3108-3113.

Wilburn JP, Wright DW, Cliffel DE. Imaging of voltage-gated alamethicin pores in a reconstituted bilayer lipid membrane via scanning electrochemical microscopy. Analyst. 2006, 131 (2): 311-316.

Wright DW, Sewell S. Alternate substrate specificity for the silica condensing R5 peptide of C. fusiformis. Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society. 2005, 229: U1150-U1150.

Wright DW, Knecht MR, Miller SA. Biologically inspired dendrimer nanocomposite materials. Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society. 2005, 229: U1113-U1113.

Knecht MR, Sewell SL, Wright DW. Size control of dendrimer-templated silica. Langmuir. 2005, 21 (5): 2058-2061.

Miller CM, Carney CK, Schrimpe AC, Wright DW. beta-Hematin (Hemozoin) mediated decompostion of polyunsaturated fatty acids to 4-hydroxy-2-nonena. Inorganic Chemistry. 2005, 44 (7): 2134-2136.

Bentzen EL, House F, Utley TJ, Crowe JE, Wright DW. Progression of respiratory syncytial virus infection monitored by fluorescent quantum dot probes. Nano Letters. 2005, 5 (4): 591-595.

Gerdon AE, Wright DW, Cliffel DE. Quartz Crystal Microbalance Detection of Glutathione Protected Nanoclusters Using Antibody Recognition. Analytical Chemistry. 2005, 77 (1): 304-310.

Knecht MR, Wright DW. Amine-Terminated Dendrimers as Biomimetic Templates for Silica Nanosphere Formation. Langmuir. 2004, 20: 4728-4732.

Knecht MR, Wright, DW. Dendrimer Mediated Formation of Multicomponent Nanospheres. Chemistry of Materials. 2004, 16: 4890-4895.

Slocik JM, Naik RR, Stone MO, Wright, DW. Viral Templates for Gold Nanoparticle Synthesis. Journal of Materials Chemistry. 2004, 15 (7): 749-753.

Slocik JM, Wright DW. Biomimetic Mineralization of Noble Metal Nanoclusters. BioMacromolecules. 2003, 4: 1135-1141.

Linck R, Ziegler J, Wright DW. Heme Aggregation Inhibitors: Antimalarial Drugs Targeting an Essential Biomineralization Process. Current Medicinal Chemistry. 2001, 8: 171-189.

Whitling JM, Spreitzer G, Wright DW. A Combinatorial and Informatics Approach to CdS Nanoclusters. Advance Matierals. 2000, 12: 1377-1380.

Specialties

• Materials Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Bioinorganic Chemistry

faculty/staff directory - undergraduate program - graduate program - apply - facilities & resources - interdisciplinary initiatives - research programs
meet our students - colloquia schedule - message from the chairman - about us - contact us/map - helpful links - department services - home

Vanderbilt University Department of Chemistry
© 2009 Vanderbilt University