Scott K. Silverman
Associate Professor of Chemistry
Associate Professor of Biochemistry
Associate Professor of Biophysics
Professor Silverman received the B.S. degree in chemistry from UCLA in 1991. He obtained the Ph.D. degree in chemistry from Caltech in 1997, working with Dennis Dougherty on physical organic chemistry and molecular neurobiology, and he performed postdoctoral research with Thomas Cech at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He joined the faculty at the University of Illinois in 2000, working in the areas of chemical biology and organic chemistry.
Research
The Silverman laboratory is interested in developing, characterizing, and applying DNA as a catalyst. We use techniques and concepts from chemical biology, organic chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, and other disciplines to design our experiments and interpret our results. For more information about our research projects, and to access a full publications list, please visit the Silverman Lab webpage.Publications
"Deoxyribozymes: Selection Design and Serendipity in the Development of DNA Catalysts", S. K. Silverman, Acc. Chem. Res. 2009, 42, 1521-1531.
"DNA-Catalyzed Sequence-Specific Hydrolysis of DNA", M. Chandra, A. Sachdeva, and S. K. Silverman, Nat. Chem. Biol. 2009, 5, 718-720.
"Use of Deoxyribozymes in RNA Research", S. K. Silverman and D. A. Baum, Methods Enzymol. 2009, 469, 95-117.
"Multimodal Optical Sensing and Analyte Specificity Using Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes", D. A. Heller, H. Jin, B. M. Martinez, D. Patel, B. M. Miller, T.-K. Yeung, P. V. Jena, C. Höbartner, T. Ha, S. K. Silverman, and M. S. Strano, Nat. Nanotechnol. 2009, 4, 114-120.
"Efficient control of group I intron ribozyme catalysis by DNA constraints", E. Zelin and S. K. Silverman, Chem. Commun., 2009, 767-769.
"Controlling the Direction of
Site-Selectivity and Regioselectivity in RNA ligation by Zn2+-Dependent
Deoxyribozymes That Use 2',3'-Cyclic Phosphate RNA Substrates", D. M. Kost, J. P. Gerdt,
P. I. Pradeepkumar, and S. K. Silverman, Org. Biomol. Chem 2008,
6, 4391-4398.
"Selective Stabilization of
Natively Folded RNA Structure by DNA Constraints", J. P. Gerdt, C. V.
Miduturu, and S. K. Silverman, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 14920-14921.
"Convergent and General DNA-Catalyzed One-Step Synthesis of Multiply
Branched DNA", T. P. Mui and S. K. Silverman, Org. Lett. 2008, 10, 4417-4420.
"Catalytic DNA (Deoxyribozymes) for
Synthetic
Applications — Current Abilities and Future Prospects", S. K. Silverman,
Chem. Commun.
2008, 3467-3485.
"A Forced March Across an RNA
Folding Landscape", S. K. Silverman, Chem. Biol.
2008, 15, 211-213.
"Deoxyribozymes: Useful DNA
Catalysts In Vitro and In Vivo", D. A. Baum and S. K. Silverman,
Cell. Mol. Life Sci.
2008, 65, 2156-2174.
"DNA and RNA Can Be Equally Efficient Catalysts for Carbon-Carbon Bond Formation", M. Chandra and S. K. Silverman, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130, 2936-2937.
"DNA-Catalyzed Formation of Nucleopeptide Linkages", P. I. Pradeepkumar, C. Höbartner, D. A. Baum, and S. K. Silverman, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2008, 47, 1753-1757.
"Improvement of DNA Adenylation Using T4 DNA Ligase with a Template Strand and a Strategically Mismatched Acceptor Strand", M. P. Patel, D. A. Baum, and S. K. Silverman, Bioorg. Chem. 2008, 36, 46-56.
"Recent Advances in DNA Catalysis", C. Höbartner and S. K. Silverman, Biopolymers 2007, 87, 279-292.
"Allosteric Control of Ribozyme Catalysis by Using DNA Constraints", E. Zelin and S. K. Silverman, ChemBioChem 2007, 8, 1907-1911.
"Engineering a Selective Small-Molecule Substrate Binding Site into a Deoxyribozyme", C. Höbartner and S. K. Silverman, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007, 46, 7420-7424.
"Site-Selective Depurination by a Periodate-Dependent Deoxyribozyme", C. Höbartner, P. I. Pradeepkumar, and S. K. Silverman, Chem. Commun. 2007, 2255-2257.
"Ty1 Reverse Transcriptase Does Not Read Through the Proposed 2',5'-Branched Retrotransposition Intermediate In Vitro", E. D. Pratico and S. K. Silverman, RNA 2007, 13, 1528-1536.
"Deoxyribozyme-Catalyzed Labeling of RNA", D. A. Baum and S. K. Silverman, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2007, 46, 3502-3504.
"Control of Macromolecular Structure and Function Using Covalently Attached Double-Stranded DNA Constraints", S. K. Silverman, Mol. Biosyst. 2007, 3, 24-29.
Awards
- Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry, American Chemical Society (2009)
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2007)
- Beckman Fellow, UIUC Center for Advanced Study (2004)
- Packard Foundation Fellowship (2003)
- March of Dimes Basil O'Connor Research Award (2003)
- Burroughs Wellcome Fund Award (2001)
- Excellence in Teaching Award, UIUC School of Chemical Sciences (2001 and 2004)
Highlights
"DNA-Catalyzed Sequence-Specific Hydrolysis of DNA" by M. Chandra, A. Sachdeva, and S. K. Silverman (Nat. Chem. Biol. 2009, 5, 1521-1531) was featured in a U of I press release, in a Chemical & Engineering News item, and in a Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News podcast. See http://news.illinois.edu/news/09/0817dna.html, http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/87/i34/8734news12.html, and http://www.genengnews.com/gencasts.aspx?id=278.
"Efficient control of group I intron ribozyme catalysis by DNA constraints" by E. Zelin and S. K. Silverman (Chem. Commun. 2009, 767-769) was featured as a "Hot Article". See http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/Journals/cc/News/B820676G_Silverman.asp.
"DNA-Catalyzed Formation of Nucleopeptide Linkages" by P. I. Pradeepkumar, C. Höbartner, D. A. Baum, and S. K. Silverman (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 1753-1757) was selected as a Research Highlight in the March 2008 issue of Nature Chemical Biology. See http://www.nature.com/nchembio/journal/
v4/n3/full/nchembio0308-167.html.
"Site-Selective Depurination by a Periodate-Dependent Deoxyribozyme" by C. Höbartner, P. I. Pradeepkumar, and S. K. Silverman (Chem. Commun. 2007, 2255-2257) was chosen for a "Hot Article" feature story. See http://www.rsc.org/Publishing/Journals/cc/News/B704507G_Silverman_190607.asp.
"Modulation of DNA Constraints that Control Macromolecular Folding" by C. V. Miduturu and S. K. Silverman (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2006, 45, 1918-1921) was chosen as an RSC Chemistry World highlight and also featured as a U of I College of LAS News highlight. See http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2006/February/27020601.asp and http://www.las.uiuc.edu/news/2006/dnatools.
"DNA Constraints Allow Rational Control of Macromolecular Conformation" by C. V. Miduturu and S. K. Silverman (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2005, 127, 10144-10145) was the focus of a U of I press release and was a feature story in the Champaign (Illinois) News-Gazette. See http://news.illinois.edu/news/05/0628dna.html and http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2005/07/17/researchers_turn_dna_into_a_tool.
"Efficient One-Step Synthesis of Biologically Related Lariat RNAs by a Deoxyribozyme" by Y. Wang and S. K. Silverman (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2005, 44, 5863-5866) was featured as a Research Highlight in the September 2005 issue of Nature Chemical Biology. See http://www.nature.com/nchembio/journal/v1/n4/full/nchembio0905-195.html.
Prof. Silverman's selection as a 2003 Fellow of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation was featured in a U of I press release. See http://www.news.uiuc.edu/news/03/1007packard.html.
"Deoxyribozymes that Synthesize Branched and Lariat RNA" by Y. Wang and S. K. Silverman (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 6880-6881) was the focus of a U of I press release and was a U of I College of LAS News highlight. See http://news.illinois.edu/ii/03/0522/lariat_P.html.
