Appointments:
Professor, Department of Chemistry, Acadia University
George H. Wallace Chair of Chemistry, Acadia University
Adjunct Professor, Department of Biology, Acadia University
Affiliations:
Acadia University
Research Interests:
Drug Design, Medicinal Chemistry, Anticancer Drug Development, Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Green Chemistry
Anticancer Medicinal Chemistry
Research efforts in Dr Jha’s laboratory have led to identification of several clusters of novel anti-tumor agents (human topoisomerase 2 inhibitors and selective estrogen receptor modulators). The topoisomerase-2 inhibitors under investigation are structurally divergent from known inhibitors and therefore may be of value in developing treatment for drug-resistant tumors. The in-vitro IC50 values of some of Dr Jha’s compounds against an array of cancer cell lines were found to be in the nanomolar range. His group has also established that these compounds display selective cytotoxicity towards tumor cells and are not general biocidal agents. In addition, a number of these compounds were found to be unaccompanied by murine toxicity in in-vivo models for dose up to 300 mg/kg.
Involvement with BHCRI to date:
Dr. Jha is a BHCRI Senior Scientist
Phone:
(902) 585-1515
Email:
Website:
Contact:
108 Elliott Hall, 6 University Avenue, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, B4P 2R6
Publications:
Yadav Y, MacLean ED, Bhattacharyya A, Parmar VS, Balzarini J, Barden C, Too CKL, Jha A. Design, synthesis, and bioevalaution of novel candidate selective estrogen receptor modulators. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 46, 3858-3866 (2011).
Jha A, Mukherjee C, Prasad AK, Parmar VS, Vadaparti M, Das U, De Clercq E, Balzarini J, Stables JP, Shrivastav A, Sharma RK, Dimmock JR. Derivatives of aryl amines containing the cytotoxic 1,4-dioxo-2-butenyl pharmacophore. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 20, 1510-1515 (2010).
Youssef D, Potter E, Jha M, DeClercq E, Balzarini J, Stables JP, Jha A. Design, synthesis and bioevaluation of novel maleamic amino acid ester conjugates of 3,5-bisarylmethylene-4-piperidones as cytostatic agents. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 19, 6364-6367 (2009).
McDonald GR, Hudson AL, Dunn SMJ, You H, Baker GB, Whittal RM, Martin JW, Jha A, Edmondson DE, Holt A. Bioactive contaminants leach from disposable laboratory plasticware. Science, 322, 917 (2008).
Youssef D, Nichols CE, Cameron TS, DeClercq E, Balzarini J, Jha A. Design, synthesis and cytostatic activity of novel cyclic curcumin analogs. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 17, 5624-5629 (2007).
Jha A, Mukherjee C, Rolle AJ, DeClercq E, Balzarini J, Stables JP. Cytostatic activity of novel 4′-aminochalcone-based imides. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 17, 4545-4550 (2007).
Jha A, Mukherjee C, Prasad AK, Parmar VS, DeClercq E, Balzarini J, Stables JP, Manavathu EK, Shrivastav A, Sharma RK, Nienaber KH, Zello GA, Dimmock JR. E,E,E-1-(4-Arylamino-4-oxo-2-butenoyl)-3,5-bis(arylidene)-4-piperidones: a topographical study of some novel potent cytotoxins. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, 15, 5854-5865 (2007).