Research Associate
Graduate Student (PhD) | Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow
Advisor: Prof. Gonçalo Bernardes
Unnikrishnan V. B is a PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge, specialising in chemical biology. His research focuses on advancing bioorthogonal chemistry, with an emphasis on designing targeted bond-cleavage reactions for tumour-selective drug activation (News, Dept. of Chemistry). As an undergraduate student advised by Prof. Rai, he worked on the development of a covalent affinity tag for protein purification, commercialised via start-up company – Plabeltech.
Unnikrishnan's academic journey has been distinguished by prestigious honours, including the Marie Sklodowska-Curie ITN Fellowship, DAAD WISE Scholarship (German Academic Exchange Service), Indian Academy of Sciences (IAS) Research Fellowship, and the INSPIRE Fellowship awarded by the Government of India.
Publications:
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Unnikrishnan, V. B.; Sabatino, V.; Amorim, F.; Estrada, M. F.; Navo, C. D.; Jimenez-Oses, G.; Fior, R.; Bernardes, G. J. L. Gold (III)-Induced Amide Bond Cleavage In Vivo: A Dual Release Strategy via π-acid Catalysed Allyl Substitution. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 23240-2325. (DOI)
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Chauhan, P.; Ragendu, V.; Kumar, M.; Molla, R.; Unnikrishnan, V. B.; Rai, V. Disintegration theory enabling precision engineering of proteins. ACS Cent. Sci. 2023, 9, 137-150. (DOI)
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Sebatino, V.; Unnikrishnan, V. B.; Bernardes, G. J. L. Transition metal mediated bioorthogonal release. Chem Catal. 2022, 2, 39-51. (DOI)
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Purushottam, L; Unnikrishnan, V. B.; Gujrati, M.; Adusumalli, S.; Rawale, D. G.; Mishra, R. K.; Rai, V. Single amino acid Gly-tag enables metal-free protein purification. Chem. Sci. 2020, 11, 13137-13142. (DOI)
(Equal first-author contribution)
(Part of themed collection: Most Popular 2019-2020 Chemical Biology Articles of Chem. Sci)
(Gly-Tag® purification resin @Plabeltech) -
Oliveira, B. L.; Stenton, B. J.; Unnikrishnan, V. B.;, Conde, J.; Almeida, C.; Negr ̃ao, M.; Ferreira, M. G.; Caramori, G. F.; Domingos, J. B.; Fior, R.; Bernardes, G. J. L. Platinum-triggered bond cleavage of pentynoyl amide and N-propargyl handles for drug activation in vivo. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2020, 24, 10869–10880. (DOI)
(Featured as the supplementary cover page for the Journal of American Chemical Society) -
Purushottam, L.; Adusumalli, S.; Singh, U.; Unnikrishnan, V. B.; Rawale, D. G.; Gujrati, M.; Mishra, R. K.; Rai, V. Single-site glycine-specific labeling of proteins. Nat. Commun. 2019, 10, 1100-1103. (DOI)
(Featured in Editors’ Highlights of Nature Communications)
