Bio

Jason K. Sello is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Brown University. Prior to his appointment at Brown, Prof. Sello was a visiting scientist at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, England and a post-doctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School. He earned a Ph.D. in biophysics from Harvard University in 2002 and a B.S. in biology from Morehouse College in 1997.

In his independent career, Prof. Sello has been synergistically using experimental methods from chemistry, molecular biology, biochemistry, and genomics to develop new anti-infectives and biotechnology platforms for the conversion of plant biomass to biofuels and commodity chemicals. At MIT, he worked collaboratively with Prof. Robert T. Sauer in the Department of Biology on antibacterial agents that act by critically perturbing protein turnover in bacteria.

Publications

Davis, J. R., Brown, B. L., Page, R., Sello, J. K. (2013) "Study of PcaV from Streptomyces coelicolor Yields New Insights into Ligand-Responsive MarR Family Transcription Factors". Nucleic Acids Research. 41: 3888-900. PMID: 23396446

Davis, J. R., Goodwin, L., Teshima, H., Detter, C., Tapia, R., Han, C., Huntemann, M., Wei, C.-L., Han, J., Chen, A, Kyrpides, N., Mavrommatis, K., Szeto, E., Markowitz, V., Ivanova, N, Mikhailova, N., Ovchinnikova, G., Pagani, I., Pati, A., Woyke, T., Pitluck, S., Peters, L., Nolan, M., Land, M., Sello, J.K. (2013) "Genome Sequence of Streptomyces viridosporus T7A ATCC 39115, a Lignin-Degrading Actinomycete". Genome Announcements, 1(4): e00416-13. PMID: 23833133.

Compton, C. L., Schmitz, K. R., Sauer, R. T. Sello, J. K. (2013) "Antibacterial of and Resistance to Small Molecule Inhibitors of the ClpP Peptidase". ACS Chemical Biology, Epub Ahead of Print. PMID: 24047344

Nelson, C., Carney, D. W., Derdowski, A, Lipovsky, A, Gee, G., O'Hara, B., Williard, P., DiMaio, D., Sello, J. K., Atwood, W. (2013) "A retrograde trafficking inhibitor of ricin and shiga-like toxins inhibits infection of cells by human and monkey polyomaviruses". mBio, accepted.

Morin, J., Adams, K. L., Sello, J. K. (2012) "Efficient Synthesis of the γ-butyrolactone Autoinducer of Streptomyces griseus via Replication of Biosynthetic Reactions". Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, 10: 1517-20. PMID: 22246070

Davis, J. R. Goodwin, L. A., Woyke, T. Teshima, H., Bruce, D., Detter, C., Tapia, R., Han, S., Han, J., Pitluck, S., Nolan, M., Mikhailova, N., Land, M. L. Sello, J.K. (2012) "Genome Sequence of Amycolatopsis sp. ATCC 39116, a Plant Biomass-Degrading Actinomycete". Journal of Bacteriology, 194:2396-7. PMID: 22493203

Totaro, K. A., Okandeji, B.O., Sello, J. K. (2012) "Use of a Multicomponent Reaction for Chemoselective Derivatization of Multiple Classes of Metabolites". ChemBiochem, 13: 987- 991. PMID: 22505051

Sello, J. K. (2012) "Mining the Antibiotic Resistome". Chemistry & Biology. 19: 1220-1221. PMID: 23102216

Okandeji, B. O., Greenwald, D. M., Wroten, J., Sello, J. K. (2011) "Synthesis and Evaluation of Inhibitors of Drug Efflux Pumps of the Major Facilitator Superfamily in Bacteria". Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, 19:7679-89. PMID: 22055717

Carney, D., Truong, J., Sello, J. K. (2011) "Investigation of the Configurational Stabilities of Chiral Isocyanoacetates in Multicomponent Reactions". Journal of Organic Chemistry. 76: 10279-10285. PMID: 22044401

Davis, J. R. and Sello, J. K. (2010) "Regulation of Genes in Streptomyces Bacteria Required for Catabolism of Lignin-Derived Aromatic Compounds". Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 86:921-9. PMID: 20012281

Vecchione, J. J. and Sello, J. K. (2010) "Regulation of an Auxiliary, Antibiotic-Resistant Tryptophanyl-tRNA Synthetase Gene via Ribosome-Mediated Transcriptional Attenuation". Journal of Bacteriology, 192, 3565-3573. PMID: 20453096

Morin, J. B. and Sello, J. K. (2010) "Efficient Synthesis of a Peculiar Vicinal Diamine Pheromone from Streptomyces natalensis". Organic Letters, 12, 3522-3524. PMID: 20670016

Socha, A. M., Kagan, G., Li, W., Hopson, R. W., Sello, J. K., and Williard, P. G. (2010) "Diffusion coefficient-formula weight correlation analysis via DOSY NMR to examine acylglyceride mixtures and biodiesel production". Energy and Fuels, 24, 2518-2521.

Socha, A. M. and Sello J. K. (2010) "Efficient Conversion of Triacylglycerols and Fatty acids into Biodiesel in a Microwave Reactor Using Metal Triflate Catalysts". Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, 8, 4753-4756. PMID: 20714659

Socha, A. M., Tan, N. Y-M., LaPlante, K. and Sello J. K. (2010) "Diversity-Oriented Synthesis of Cyclic Acyldepsipeptides Leads to the Discovery of a Potent Antibacterial Agent". Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, 18, 7193-7202. PMID: 20833054

Badu-Nkansah, A. and Sello, J. K. (2010) "Deletion of the Elongation Factor 4 Gene (lepA) in Streptomyces coelicolor Enhances the Production of the Calcium-Dependent Antibiotic". FEMS Microbiology Letters, 311, 146-151. PMID: 20735483

Okandeji, B. O. and Sello, J. K. (2009) "Brønsted Acidity of Substrates Influences the Outcome of Passerini Three Component Reactions". Journal of Organic Chemistry. 74, 5067-5070.

Davis, J. B., Bailey, J. D., and Sello, J. K. (2009) "A Biomimetic Synthesis of a New Class of Bacterial Signaling Molecules". Organic Letters, 11, 2984- 2987. PMID: 19545145

Vecchione, J. J., Alexander, B. Jr. and Sello, J. K. (2009) "Two Distinct Major Facilitator Superfamily Drug Efflux Pumps Mediate Chloramphenicol Resistance in Streptomyces coelicolor". Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 53, 4673-7. PMID: 19687245

Vecchione, J. J. and Sello, J. K. (2009) "A Novel Tryptophanyl-tRNA Synthetase Gene Confers High Level Resistance to Indolmycin, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy". 53, 3972- 3980. PMID: 19546369

Sello, J. K. and Buttner, M. J. (2008) "The Gene encoding Ribonuclease III Gene in Streptomyces coelicolor is Transcribed During Exponential Phase and is Required for Antibiotic Production and for Proper Sporulation". Journal of Bacteriology, 190, 4079-4083. PMID: 18359817.

Okandeji, B. O., Gordon, J. R., and Sello, J. K. (2008) "Catalysis of Ugi Four Component Coupling Reactions by Rare Earth Metal Triflates". Journal of Organic Chemistry. 73, 5595-5597. PMID: 18570401

Vecchione, J. J. and Sello, J. K. (2008) "Characterization of an Inducible, Antibiotic-Resistant Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetase Gene in Streptomyces coelicolor". Journal of Bacteriology, 190, 6253-6257. PMID: 18621902

Sello, J. K. and Buttner, M. J. (2008) "The Oligoribonuclease Gene in Streptomyces coelicolor is not Transcriptionally or Translationally Coupled to adpA, a key bldA target". FEMS Microbiology Letters, 286, 60-65. PMID: 18625025

At MIT