Topic Expertise:

Synthetic biology for biopolymer synthesis and bioremediation

Contact:

School of Biomolecular Science & Engineering (BSE), 

Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology (VISTEC), Wangchan Valley, Rayong, THAILAND

Tel: (+66)33 014 020 | Email: chayasith.u@vistec.ac.th

Biography:

Dr. Chayasith received his A.B. degree in chemistry from Harvard, during which he worked in the laboratory of Professor Gregory Verdine on the design and synthesis of mechanism-based inhibitors of DNA repair enzymes. He then obtained his PhD in biological chemistry from MIT under the mentorship of Professor Alice Ting. As a PhD student, Dr. Chayasith developed several chemical biology tools, including the first fluorophore ligase for protein labeling in cells, the fastest variant of biocompatible metal-catalyzed click chemistry, and a general route for chemical masking of sulfonated compounds for cellular delivery. After completing his PhD, Dr. Chayasith won a Marie Curie Postdoctoral fellowship and joined Professor Jason Chin’s laboratory at MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge. There, Dr. Chayasith developed genetic code expansion as a tool for live-cell and super-resolution imaging of cellular proteins, as well as an engineered stapled ribosome, which enables directed evolution of new ribosome function. Dr. Chayasith was also a college research associate at St John’s College, Cambridge, where he took part in supervision of Natural Sciences undergraduate students. Dr. Chayasith joined the BSE division of VISTEC in 2018 as a lecturer.

For more information:

CV

Research overview:

Synthetic biology for biopolymer synthesis and bioremediation

Our research lies at the interface of chemistry, biology, and engineering. We want to understand how the synthesis of biopolymers--particularly proteins—is regulated in space and time within living cells, and how precise control of protein synthesis drives differential protein function under different contexts. We also want to leverage our knowledge of (bio)polymer synthesis and degradation to devise environmentally sustainable ways to make novel materials, as well as to break down existing consumer materials that pose a dire threat to the environment. We are technologists at heart, and are driven to develop new tools—biological, chemical or biophysical—to address these challenges. 

Publications:

Journal, Review

Enzymes, auxiliaries, and cells for the recycling and upcycling of polyethylene terephthalate

Wongsatit T.

Current Opinion in Systems Biology ,2024, 38 100515

Journal, Article

Benchmarking CRISPR-BP34 for point-of-care melioidosis detection in low-income and middle-income countries: a molecular diagnostics study

Pakdeerat S.

The Lancet Microbe ,2024, 54 

Journal, Article

A Multiplexed Cas13-Based Assay with Point-of-Care Attributes for Simultaneous COVID-19 Diagnosis and Variant Surveillance

Patchsung M.

CRISPR Journal ,2023, 62 

Journal, Article

Discovery and Genetic Code Expansion of a Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Hydrolase from the Human Saliva Metagenome for the Degradation and Bio-Functionalization of PET

Eiamthong B.

Angewandte Chemie - International Edition ,2022, 6137 e202203061

Journal, Review

Molecular probes for cellular imaging of post-translational proteoforms

Suraritdechachai S.

RSC Chemical Biology ,2022, 32 

Journal, Review

Visualizing the complexity of proteins in living cells with genetic code expansion

Aphicho K.

Current Opinion in Chemical Biology ,2022, 66 102108

Journal, Article

Alt-RPL36 downregulates the PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathway by interacting with TMEM24

Cao X.

Nature Communications ,2021, 121 508

Journal, Article

A Genetic Code Expansion-Derived Molecular Beacon for the Detection of Intracellular Amyloid-β Peptide Generation

Sappakhaw K.

Angewandte Chemie - International Edition ,2021, 608 

Journal, Article

Clinical validation of a Cas13-based assay for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA

Patchsung M.

Nature Biomedical Engineering ,2020, 412 

Journal, Article

Total synthesis of Escherichia coli with a recoded genome

Fredens J.

Nature ,2019, 5697757 

Journal, Article

Controlling orthogonal ribosome subunit interactions enables evolution of new function

Schmied W.H.

Nature ,2018, 5647736 

Journal, Article

A conformational sensor based on genetic code expansion reveals an autocatalytic component in EGFR activation

Baumdick M.

Nature Communications ,2018, 91 3847

Journal, Erratum

Correction to: Genetic Code Expansion Enables Live-Cell and Super-Resolution Imaging of Site-Specifically Labeled Cellular Proteins (Journal of the American Chemical Society (2015): 137: (4602-4605): DOI: 10.1021/ja512838z)

Uttamapinant C.

Journal of the American Chemical Society ,2018, 14042 

Journal, Article

The dopamine transporter recycles via a retromer-dependent postendocytic mechanism: Tracking studies using a novel fluorophore-coupling approach

Wu S.

Journal of Neuroscience ,2017, 3739 

Journal, Article

Ribosome subunit stapling for orthogonal translation in E. coli

Fried S.D.

Angewandte Chemie - International Edition ,2015, 5443 

Journal, Article

A Mechanical Switch Couples T Cell Receptor Triggering to the Cytoplasmic Juxtamembrane Regions of CD3ζζ

Lee M.S.

Immunity ,2015, 432 3145

Journal, Article

Genetic Code Expansion Enables Live-Cell and Super-Resolution Imaging of Site-Specifically Labeled Cellular Proteins

Uttamapinant C.

Journal of the American Chemical Society ,2015, 13714 

Journal, Article

Efficient multisite unnatural amino acid incorporation in mammalian cells via optimized pyrrolysyl tRNA synthetase/tRNA expression and engineered eRF1

Schmied W.H.

Journal of the American Chemical Society ,2014, 13644 

Journal, Article

Genetic encoding of photocaged cysteine allows photoactivation of TEV protease in live mammalian cells

Nguyen D.

Journal of the American Chemical Society ,2014, 1366 

Journal, Article

Site-specific protein labeling using prime and chelation-assisted click chemistry

Uttamapinant C.

Nature Protocols ,2013, 88 

Journal, Article

Combined spatial limitation around residues 16 and 108 of plasmodium falciparum dihydrofolate reductase explains resistance to cycloguanil

Vanichtanankul J.

Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy ,2012, 567 

Journal, Article

Fast, cell-compatible click chemistry with copper-chelating azides for biomolecular labeling

Uttamapinant C.

Angewandte Chemie - International Edition ,2012, 5124 

Journal, Article

Fluorophore targeting to cellular proteins via enzyme-mediated azide ligation and strain-promoted cycloaddition

Yao J.Z.

Journal of the American Chemical Society ,2012, 1348 

Journal, Article

Synthesis of 7-Aminocoumarin by Buchwald-hartwig cross coupling for specific protein labeling in living cells

Jin X.

ChemBioChem ,2011, 121 

Journal, Article

A fluorophore ligase for site-specific protein labeling inside living cells

Uttamapinant C.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America ,2010, 10724 

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