Dr Elena De Vita
Lecturer in Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology
School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences, Department of Bio
Queen Mary University of London
Queen Mary University of London
Research
Drug discovery, Covalent inhibitors, Induced proximity, PHOSTACs, Protein phopshatases
Interests
My research involves the development of novel chemical compounds that can help understanding and treating cancer and other debilitating diseases. The use of advanced in vitro models is therefore essential to bring these compounds forward into the drug discovery pipeline.Publications
2024
Antolin AA, Aye Y, Bar-Peled L, De Vita E, Dudkina N, Jewett MC, Kiely-Collins H, Mazitschek R and Zhang ZJ (2024). What is chemical biology? Elsevier Cell Chemical Biology vol. 31, (9) 1562-1565. Shah RR, De Vita E, Sathyamurthi PS, Conole D, Zhang X, Fellows E, Dickinson ER, Fleites CM, Queisser MA, Harling JD and Tate EW (2024). Structure-Guided Design and Optimization of Covalent VHL-Targeted Sulfonyl Fluoride PROTACs. American Chemical Society (ACS) Journal of Medicinal Chemistry vol. 67, (6) 4641-4654. 2022
Zhang L, Lovell S, De Vita E, Jagtap PKA, Lucy D, Grocin AG, Kjær S, Borg A, Hennig J, Miller AK and Tate EW (2022). A KLK6 Activity-Based Probe Reveals a Role for KLK6 Activity in Pancreatic Cancer Cell Invasion. American Chemical Society (ACS) Journal of the American Chemical Society vol. 144, (49) 22493-22504. Jamshidiha M, Lanyon-Hogg T, Sutherell CL, Craven GB, Tersa M, De Vita E, Brustur D, Pérez-Dorado I, Hassan S, Petracca R, Morgan RM, Sanz-Hernández M, Norman JC, Armstrong A, Mann DJ, Cota E and Tate EW (2022). Identification of the first structurally validated covalent ligands of the small GTPase RAB27A. Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) RSC Medicinal Chemistry vol. 13, (2) 150-155. Zhang Q, Kounde CS, Mondal M, Greenfield JL, Baker JR, Kotelnikov S, Ignatov M, Tinworth CP, Zhang L, Conole D, De Vita E, Kozakov D, McCluskey A, Harling JD, Fuchter MJ and Tate EW (2022). Light-mediated multi-target protein degradation using arylazopyrazole photoswitchable PROTACs (AP-PROTACs). Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Chemical Communications vol. 58, (78) 10933-10936. 2021
Yoon H, Triplet EM, Simon WL, Choi C, Kleppe LS, De Vita E, Miller AK and Scarisbrick IA (2021). Blocking Kallikrein 6 promotes developmental myelination. Wiley Glia vol. 70, (3) 430-450. De Vita E, Lucy D and Tate EW (2021). Beyond targeted protein degradation: LD·ATTECs clear cellular lipid droplets. Springer Nature Cell Research vol. 31, (9) 945-946. Lovell S, Zhang L, Kryza T, Neodo A, Bock N, De Vita E, Williams ED, Engelsberger E, Xu C, Bakker AT, Maneiro M, Tanaka RJ, Bevan CL, Clements JA and Tate EW (2021). A Suite of Activity-Based Probes To Dissect the KLK Activome in Drug-Resistant Prostate Cancer. American Chemical Society (ACS) Journal of the American Chemical Society vol. 143, (23) 8911-8924. Maneiro M, De Vita E, Conole D, Kounde CS, Zhang Q and Tate EW (2021). PROTACs, molecular glues and bifunctionals from bench to bedside: Unlocking the clinical potential of catalytic drugs. Elsevier Santamaria S, Buemi F, Nuti E, Cuffaro D, De Vita E, Tuccinardi T, Rossello A, Howell S, Mehmood S, Snijders AP and de Groot R (2021). Development of a fluorogenic ADAMTS-7 substrate. Taylor & Francis Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry vol. 36, (1) 2160-2169. 2020
De Vita E (2020). 10 years into the resurgence of covalent drugs. Taylor & Francis Future Medicinal Chemistry vol. 13, (2) 193-210. De Vita E, Maneiro M and Tate EW (2020). The Missing Link between (Un)druggable and Degradable KRAS. American Chemical Society (ACS) ACS Central Science vol. 6, (8) 1281-1284. 2019
De Vita E, Smits N, van den Hurk H, Beck EM, Hewitt J, Baillie G, Russell E, Pannifer A, Hamon V, Morrison A, McElroy SP, Jones P, Ignatenko NA, Gunkel N and Miller AK (2019). Synthesis and Structure‐Activity Relationships of N‐(4‐Benzamidino)‐Oxazolidinones: Potent and Selective Inhibitors of Kallikrein‐Related Peptidase 6. Wiley ChemMedChem vol. 15, (1) 79-95. D'Andrea F, Nuti E, Becherini S, Cuffaro D, Husanu E, Camodeca C, De Vita E, Zocchi MR, Poggi A, D'Arrigo C, Cappello V, Gemmi M, Nencetti S, Chiappe C and Rossello A (2019). Design and Synthesis of Ionic Liquid‐Based Matrix Metalloproteinase Inhibitors (MMPIs): A Simple Approach to Increase Hydrophilicity and to Develop MMPI‐Coated Gold Nanoparticles. Wiley ChemMedChem vol. 14, (6) 686-698. 2018
De Vita E, Schüler P, Lovell S, Lohbeck J, Kullmann S, Rabinovich E, Sananes A, Heßling B, Hamon V, Papo N, Hess J, Tate EW, Gunkel N and Miller AK (2018). Depsipeptides Featuring a Neutral P1 Are Potent Inhibitors of Kallikrein-Related Peptidase 6 with On-Target Cellular Activity. American Chemical Society (ACS) Journal of Medicinal Chemistry vol. 61, (19) 8859-8874. Sananes A, Cohen I, Shahar A, Hockla A, De Vita E, Miller AK, Radisky ES and Papo N (2018). A potent, proteolysis-resistant inhibitor of kallikrein-related peptidase 6 (KLK6) for cancer therapy, developed by combinatorial engineering. Elsevier Journal of Biological Chemistry vol. 293, (33) 12663-12680. Longuespée R, Wefers AK, De Vita E, Miller AK, Reuss DE, Wick W, Herold-Mende C, Kriegsmann M, Schirmacher P, von Deimling A and Pusch S (2018). Rapid detection of 2-hydroxyglutarate in frozen sections of IDH mutant tumors by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Springer Nature Acta Neuropathologica Communications vol. 6, (1)