James A. Wells, PhD

Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UCSF
Harry Wm. and Diana V. Hind Distinguished Professorship in Pharmaceutical Sciences, UCSF

jim.wells@ucsf.edu

Phone: (415) 514-4498 (voice)
Box 2330, UCSF
San Francisco, CA 94158-2330

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Additional Websites

• Lab Website

Education

Professional Experience

• 1982-1986
  Scientist, Genentech, Inc., Dept. of Protein Engineering
• 1986-1989
  Senior Scientist, Genentech, Inc., Dept. of Protein Engineering
• 1989-1998
  Staff Scientist, Genentech, Inc., Dept. of Protein Engineering
• 1988-2005
  Adjunct Asst, Assoc, and Full Professor, University of California, San Francisco, Dept. of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
• 1998-2005
  President and CSO, Sunesis Pharmaceuticals
• 2005-present
  Harry Wm. and Diana V. Hind Distinguished Professorship in Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Francisco
• 2005-present
  Director, Small Molecule Discovery Center, University of California, San Francisco

Honors & Awards

• 1979-1981
  Damon M. Runyon - Walter Winchell Postdoctoral Fellowship
• 1990
  Pfizer Award (given by the American Chemical Society for achievements in enzyme chemistry)
• 1998
  Recipient of the Christian B. Anfinsin Award presented by the Protein Society
• 1998
  Recipient of the Vincent du Vignead Award given by the American Peptide Society
• 1999
  Elected Member to the National Academy of Sciences
• 2003
  Recipient of the Hans Neurath Award given by the Protein Society
• 2006
  Perlman Lecture Award of the ACS biotechnology Division

Selected Publications

1. Rettenmaier TJ, Sadowsky JD, Thomsen ND, Chen SC, Doak AK, Arkin MR, Wells JA. A small-molecule mimic of a peptide docking motif inhibits the protein kinase PDK1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Dec 30; 111(52):18590-5.
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2. Ordureau A, Sarraf SA, Duda DM, Heo JM, Jedrychowski MP, Sviderskiy VO, Olszewski JL, Koerber JT, Xie T, Beausoleil SA, Wells JA, Gygi SP, Schulman BA, Harper JW. Quantitative Proteomics Reveal a Feedforward Model for Mitochondrial PARKIN Translocation and Ubiquitin Chain Synthesis. Mol Cell. 2014 Nov 6; 56(3):462.
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3. Ordureau A, Sarraf SA, Duda DM, Heo JM, Jedrychowski MP, Sviderskiy VO, Olszewski JL, Koerber JT, Xie T, Beausoleil SA, Wells JA, Gygi SP, Schulman BA, Harper JW. Quantitative Proteomics Reveal a Feedforward Mechanism for Mitochondrial PARKIN Translocation and Ubiquitin Chain Synthesis. Mol Cell. 2014 Nov 6; 56(3):360-75.
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4. Julien O, Kampmann M, Bassik MC, Zorn JA, Venditto VJ, Shimbo K, Agard NJ, Shimada K, Rheingold AL, Stockwell BR, Weissman JS, Wells JA. Unraveling the mechanism of cell death induced by chemical fibrils. Nat Chem Biol. 2014 Nov; 10(11):969-76.
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5. Arkin MR, Tang Y, Wells JA. Small-molecule inhibitors of protein-protein interactions: progressing toward the reality. Chem Biol. 2014 Sep 18; 21(9):1102-14.
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6. Wells JA, Kossiakoff AA. Cell biology. New tricks for an old dimer. Science. 2014 May 16; 344(6185):703-4.
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7. Wiita AP, Hsu GW, Lu CM, Esensten JH, Wells JA. Circulating proteolytic signatures of chemotherapy-induced cell death in humans discovered by N-terminal labeling. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 May 27; 111(21):7594-9.
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8. Ashkenazi A, Yuan J, Wells JA. Preface. Methods Enzymol. 2014; 544:xv.
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9. Morgan CW, Julien O, Unger EK, Shah NM, Wells JA. Turning on caspases with genetics and small molecules. Methods Enzymol. 2014; 544:179-213.
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10. Wiita AP, Seaman JE, Wells JA. Global analysis of cellular proteolysis by selective enzymatic labeling of protein N-termini. Methods Enzymol. 2014; 544:327-58.
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11. Ashkenazi A, Wells JA, Yuan J. Preface. Methods Enzymol. 2014; 545:xiii.
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12. Ostrem JM, Peters U, Sos ML, Wells JA, Shokat KM. K-Ras(G12C) inhibitors allosterically control GTP affinity and effector interactions. Nature. 2013 Nov 28; 503(7477):548-51.
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13. Wiita AP, Ziv E, Wiita PJ, Urisman A, Julien O, Burlingame AL, Weissman JS, Wells JA. Correction: Global cellular response to chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. Elife. 2013; 2(0).
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14. Wiita AP, Ziv E, Wiita PJ, Urisman A, Julien O, Burlingame AL, Weissman JS, Wells JA. Global cellular response to chemotherapy-induced apoptosis. Elife. 2013; 2:e01236.
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15. Koerber JT, Thomsen ND, Hannigan BT, Degrado WF, Wells JA. Nature-inspired design of motif-specific antibody scaffolds. Nat Biotechnol. 2013 Oct; 31(10):916-21.
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16. Carter PJ, Hazuda D, Wells JA. Next generation therapeutics. Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2013 Jun; 17(3):317-9.
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17. Yang CF, Chiang MC, Gray DC, Prabhakaran M, Alvarado M, Juntti SA, Unger EK, Wells JA, Shah NM. Sexually dimorphic neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamus govern mating in both sexes and aggression in males. Cell. 2013 May 9; 153(4):896-909.
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18. Thomsen ND, Koerber JT, Wells JA. Structural snapshots reveal distinct mechanisms of procaspase-3 and -7 activation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 May 21; 110(21):8477-82.
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19. Wang N, Majmudar CY, Pomerantz WC, Gagnon JK, Sadowsky JD, Meagher JL, Johnson TK, Stuckey JA, Brooks CL, Wells JA, Mapp AK. Ordering a dynamic protein via a small-molecule stabilizer. J Am Chem Soc. 2013 Mar 6; 135(9):3363-6.
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20. Datta D, McClendon CL, Jacobson MP, Wells JA. Substrate and inhibitor-induced dimerization and cooperativity in caspase-1 but not caspase-3. J Biol Chem. 2013 Apr 5; 288(14):9971-81.
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