Gary H. Posner

 Department Affiliation: Primary: Chemistry; Secondary: JHU Malaria Institute ; Environmental Health Sciences Degree: Ph.D. Harvard University
Rank: Professor
Telephone Number: 410-516-4670
Fax Number: 410-516-8420
E-mail address: ghp@jhu.edu
Homewood Address: 216 Remsen Hall, Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218 

Organic and medicinal chemistry aimed toward rational design and synthesis of new compounds for effective and safe chemoprevention and chemotherapy of malaria and cancer

Our research deals generally with development of new synthetic methods and asymmetric synthesis of natural products, with special emphasis on design and synthesis of new compounds having beneficial effects on the quality of human life (i.e., new medicinal agents). Recently, the Posner research team has prepared a promising analog of vitamin D3 for treatment of the skin disease psoriasis, a promising analog of the Chinese medicine qinghaosu for treatment of malaria, and some new vitamin D3 analogs as promising lead compounds for prevention of cancer. Professor Posner is well known for his involvement with organocopper chemistry as a researcher and writer. His original research publications and his two review articles and one book on organocopper chemistry have helped to make this area one of the fastest developing ones in modern synthetic organometallic chemistry.

Representative Publications:

• Posner G.H., Suh, B.C., Petersen, K.S., Dolan, P., Kensler, T.W., Koh, J.T., Peleg, S.  Difluoromethyl Analogs of the Natural Hormone 1?,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3: Design, Synthesis, and Preliminary Biological Evaluation.  J. Steroid Biochem. Mol. Biol. 103:213-221, 2007. Pub Med Reference.

• Somjen, D., Posner, G.H., Weisman, Y., Kaye, A.M.,  Less-Calcemic Vitamin D Analogs Enhance Creatine Kinase Specific Activity and Modulate Responsiveness to Gonadal Steroids in the Rat Skeletal Tissues.  J. Endocrin. Invest. 30:91-96, 2007. Pub Med Reference.

• Maio, W.A., Sinishtaj, S, Posner, G.H.  Cyclopentanone Ring Expansion Leading to Functionalized ?-Lactams: Short Synthesis of Simple Sedum Alkaloids.  Org. Lett. 9:2673-2676, 2007.  Pub Med Reference.

• Usera, A.R., Dolan, P., Kensler, T.W., Posner, G.H.  Difluoromethyl Analogs of the Natural Hormone 1alpha,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3: Design, Synthesis, and Preliminary Biological Evaluation.  J. Steroid Biochem. Mol. Biol. 15:5509-5518, 2007.  Pub Med Reference

• Petersen, K.S., Dolan, P., Kensler, T.W., Peleg, S., Posner, G.H. Low-Calcemic, Highly Antiproliferative, 23-Oxa Ether Analogs of the Natural Hormone 1alpha,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D_3: Design, Synthesis, and Preliminary Biological Evaluation. J. Med. Chem. 50:5824-5832, 2007. Pub Med Reference.

• Seydou, K., Gillet, J.C., Li, X., Wang, H., Posner, G.H., Gregoire, G., Schermann, J.P., Bowen, K.H., Desfrancois, C.  Studies of Protonated and Anionic Artemisinin in the Gas-Phase by Infrared Multi-photon Dissociation and by Negative Ion Photoelectron Spectroscopies.  Chem. Phys. Lett. 449:286-290, 2007.  Pub Med Reference Not Available.

• Posner, G.H., Chang, W., Hess, L., Woodard, L., Sinishtaj, S., Usera, A.R., Maio, W., Rosenthal, A.S., Kalinda, A.S., D’Angelo, J.G., Petersen, L., Stohler, R., Rottmann, M., Whittlin, S., Brun, R., Shapiro, T.A.  Malaria-Infected Mice Are Cured by Oral Administration of New Artemisinin Derivatives.  J. Med. Chem. 51:1035-1042, 2008.  Pub Med Reference 

• Posner, G.H. and Chang, W.  Antimalarial Sulfide Trioxanes: A Reinterpretation of Mechanism.  J. Phys. Org. Chem. 21:538-540, 2008.  Pub Med Reference Not Available.

• Posner, G.H., Maio, W.A., Kalinda, A.S.  Electronically Stabilized Versions of The Antimalarial Acetal Trioxanes Artemether and Artesunate.  Bioorg. Med. Chem. 16:5247-5253, 2008.  Pub Med Reference 

• Konkimalla, V.B., Blunder, M., Korn, B., Jansen, H., Chang, W., Posner, G.H., Bauer, R., Efferth, T.  Effect of Artemisinin and Other Endoperoxides on Nitric Oxide-Related Signalling Pathway in RAW 264.7 Mouse Macrophage Cells.  Nitric Oxide 19:184-191. [Epub ahead of print]  Pub Med Reference

• Rosenthal, A.S., D’Angelo, J., Posner, G.H., Cooper, R.A., Accumulation of Artemisinin Trioxane Derivaties Within the Neutral Lipid Bodies of Plasmodium falciparum Malaria Parasites is Endoperoxide-Dependent. Biochemical Pharmacology 77:322-336. 2009.  Pub Med Reference

• D’Angelo, J.G., Bordon, C., Posner, G.H., Yolkern, R., Jones-Brando, L.,  Artemisinin Derivatives Inhibit Toxoplasma gondii in vitro at Multiple Steps in the Lytic Cycle. Journal Antimocrbial Chemotherapy 63:146-150, 2009.  Pub Med Reference

• Rosenthal, A.S., Chen, X., Liu, J., West, D.C., Hergenrother, P., Shapiro, T.A., Posner, G.H.  Malaria-Infected Mice Are Cured by a Single Oral Dose of New Dimeric Trioxane Sulfones Which Are Also Selectively and Powerfully Cytotoxic to Cancer Cells. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 52:1198-1203, 2009.  Pub Med Reference

• Jeon, H.-B., Posner, G.H.  New A-ring Analogs of the Hormone 1_,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3: (2’-Hydroxymethyl)Tetrahydrofuro[1,2-a]-25-Hydroxyvitamin D3. Tetrahedrron 65:1235-1240, 2009.  Pub Med Reference Not Available. 

• Woodard, L.E., Chang, W., Chen, X., Liu, J.O., Shapiro, T.A., Posner, G.H., "Malaria-Infected Mice Live Until at Least Day 30 After a New Monomeric Trioxane Combined with Mefloquine Are Administered Together as a Single Low Oral Dose," Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, in press.  Pub Med Reference 

• Somjen, D., Mirsky, N., Tamir, A., Vaya, J., Posner, G.H., Kaye, A.M., 2009, "The Response of Creatine Kinase Specific Activity in Rat Pituitary to Estrongenic Compounds and Vitamin D Less-calcemic Analogs,"Journal of Cell Biology,  In Press.

• Usera, A.R., Dolan, P., Kensler, T.W., Posner, G.H.  Novel Alkyl Side Chain Sulfones of 1alpha,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 Analogs: A Comparison of In vitro Antiproliferative Activities and In vivo Calcemic Activities.  Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry 17:5627-5631.  Pub Med Reference

• Xu, H., McCann, M., Zhang, Z., Posner, G.H., Bingham, V., El-Tanani, M., Campbell, F.C. Vitamin D Receptor (VDR) Modulates The Neoplastic Phenotype Through Antagonistic Growth Regulatory Signals.  Molecular Carcinogenesis 48:758-772, 2009.  Pub Med Reference 

Other graduate programs in which Dr. Posner participates:

Anti-Cancer Drug Development Program
Chemistry-Biology Interface Program (CBI)