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Jonathan K Watts PhD

TitleProfessor
InstitutionUMass Chan Medical School
DepartmentRNA Therapeutics Institute
AddressUniversity of Massachusetts Medical School
55 Lake Ave North
Worcester MA 01605
Phone774-455-3784
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    Other Positions
    InstitutionT.H. Chan School of Medicine
    DepartmentBiochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology

    InstitutionT.H. Chan School of Medicine
    DepartmentNeuroNexus Institute

    InstitutionT.H. Chan School of Medicine
    DepartmentRNA Therapeutics Institute

    InstitutionMorningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
    DepartmentInterdisciplinary Graduate Program

    InstitutionMorningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
    DepartmentMD/PhD Program

    InstitutionMorningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
    DepartmentNeuroscience

    InstitutionMorningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences
    DepartmentTranslational Science


    Collapse Biography 
    Collapse education and training
    Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, CanadaBSChemistry
    McGill University, Montreal, QC, CanadaPHDBio-organic Chemistry

    Collapse Bibliographic 
    Collapse selected publications
    Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Faculty can login to make corrections and additions.
    Newest   |   Oldest   |   Most Cited   |   Most Discussed   |   Timeline   |   Field Summary   |   Plain Text
    PMC Citations indicate the number of times the publication was cited by articles in PubMed Central, and the Altmetric score represents citations in news articles and social media. (Note that publications are often cited in additional ways that are not shown here.) Fields are based on how the National Library of Medicine (NLM) classifies the publication's journal and might not represent the specific topic of the publication. Translation tags are based on the publication type and the MeSH terms NLM assigns to the publication. Some publications (especially newer ones and publications not in PubMed) might not yet be assigned Field or Translation tags.) Click a Field or Translation tag to filter the publications.
    1. Aartsma-Rus A, Garanto A, van Roon-Mom W, McConnell EM, Suslovitch V, Yan WX, Watts JK, Yu TW. Consensus Guidelines for the Design and In Vitro Preclinical Efficacy Testing N-of-1 Exon Skipping Antisense Oligonucleotides. Nucleic Acid Ther. 2023 01; 33(1):17-25. PMID: 36516128.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    2. Wang F, Calvo-Roitberg E, Rembetsy-Brown JM, Fang M, Sousa J, Kartje ZJ, Krishnamurthy PM, Lee J, Green MR, Pai AA, Watts JK. G-rich motifs within phosphorothioate-based antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) drive activation of FXN expression through indirect effects. Nucleic Acids Res. 2022 12 09; 50(22):12657-12673. PMID: 36511872.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    3. Maiti A, Hedger AK, Myint W, Balachandran V, Watts JK, Schiffer CA, Matsuo H. Structure of the catalytically active APOBEC3G bound to a DNA oligonucleotide inhibitor reveals tetrahedral geometry of the transition state. Nat Commun. 2022 Nov 19; 13(1):7117. PMID: 36402773.
      Citations: 1     Fields:    Translation:Cells
    4. Shin M, Chan IL, Cao Y, Gruntman AM, Lee J, Sousa J, Rodr?guez TC, Echeverria D, Devi G, Debacker AJ, Moazami MP, Krishnamurthy PM, Rembetsy-Brown JM, Kelly K, Yukselen O, Donnard E, Parsons TJ, Khvorova A, Sontheimer EJ, Maehr R, Garber M, Watts JK. Intratracheally administered LNA gapmer antisense oligonucleotides induce robust gene silencing in mouse lung fibroblasts. Nucleic Acids Res. 2022 08 26; 50(15):8418-8430. PMID: 35920332.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    5. Sarli SL, Watts JK. Harnessing nucleic acid technologies for human health on earth and in space. Life Sci Space Res (Amst). 2022 Nov; 35:113-126. PMID: 36336357.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    6. Zhang H, Bamidele N, Liu P, Ojelabi O, Gao XD, Rodriguez T, Cheng H, Kelly K, Watts JK, Xie J, Gao G, Wolfe SA, Xue W, Sontheimer EJ. Adenine Base Editing In Vivo with a Single Adeno-Associated Virus Vector. GEN Biotechnol. 2022 Jun 01; 1(3):285-299. PMID: 35811581.
      Citations:    
    7. Krishnan G, Raitcheva D, Bartlett D, Prudencio M, McKenna-Yasek DM, Douthwright C, Oskarsson BE, Ladha S, King OD, Barmada SJ, Miller TM, Bowser R, Watts JK, Petrucelli L, Brown RH, Kankel MW, Gao FB. Poly(GR) and poly(GA) in cerebrospinal fluid as potential biomarkers for C9ORF72-ALS/FTD. Nat Commun. 2022 05 19; 13(1):2799. PMID: 35589711.
      Citations: 4     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    8. Chen Z, Devi G, Arif A, Zamore PD, Sontheimer EJ, Watts JK. Tetrazine-Ligated CRISPR sgRNAs for Efficient Genome Editing. ACS Chem Biol. 2022 05 20; 17(5):1045-1050. PMID: 35446558.
      Citations: 1     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    9. Liang SQ, Liu P, Smith JL, Mintzer E, Maitland S, Dong X, Yang Q, Lee J, Haynes CM, Zhu LJ, Watts JK, Sontheimer EJ, Wolfe SA, Xue W. Genome-wide detection of CRISPR editing in vivo using GUIDE-tag. Nat Commun. 2022 01 21; 13(1):437. PMID: 35064134.
      Citations: 6     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    10. Tran H, Moazami MP, Yang H, McKenna-Yasek D, Douthwright CL, Pinto C, Metterville J, Shin M, Sanil N, Dooley C, Puri A, Weiss A, Wightman N, Gray-Edwards H, Marosfoi M, King RM, Kenderdine T, Fabris D, Bowser R, Watts JK, Brown RH. Suppression of mutant C9orf72 expression by a potent mixed backbone antisense oligonucleotide. Nat Med. 2022 01; 28(1):117-124. PMID: 34949835.
      Citations: 21     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    11. Shin M, Meda Krishnamurthy P, Devi G, Watts JK. Quantification of Antisense Oligonucleotides by Splint Ligation and Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction. Nucleic Acid Ther. 2022 02; 32(1):66-73. PMID: 34928745.
      Citations: 3     Fields:    
    12. Ghanta KS, Chen Z, Mir A, Dokshin GA, Krishnamurthy PM, Yoon Y, Gallant J, Xu P, Zhang XO, Ozturk AR, Shin M, Idrizi F, Liu P, Gneid H, Edraki A, Lawson ND, Rivera-P?rez JA, Sontheimer EJ, Watts JK, Mello CC. 5'-Modifications improve potency and efficacy of DNA donors for precision genome editing. Elife. 2021 10 19; 10. PMID: 34665130.
      Citations: 8     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    13. Goddard LR, Mardle CE, Gneid H, Ball CG, Gowers DM, Atkins HS, Butt LE, Watts JK, Vincent HA, Callaghan AJ. An Investigation into the Potential of Targeting Escherichia coli rne mRNA with Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) Gapmers as an Antibacterial Strategy. Molecules. 2021 Jun 04; 26(11). PMID: 34200016.
      Citations:    Fields:    Translation:Cells
    14. Saha K, Sontheimer EJ, Brooks PJ, Dwinell MR, Gersbach CA, Liu DR, Murray SA, Tsai SQ, Wilson RC, Anderson DG, Asokan A, Banfield JF, Bankiewicz KS, Bao G, Bulte JWM, Bursac N, Campbell JM, Carlson DF, Chaikof EL, Chen ZY, Cheng RH, Clark KJ, Curiel DT, Dahlman JE, Deverman BE, Dickinson ME, Doudna JA, Ekker SC, Emborg ME, Feng G, Freedman BS, Gamm DM, Gao G, Ghiran IC, Glazer PM, Gong S, Heaney JD, Hennebold JD, Hinson JT, Khvorova A, Kiani S, Lagor WR, Lam KS, Leong KW, Levine JE, Lewis JA, Lutz CM, Ly DH, Maragh S, McCray PB, McDevitt TC, Mirochnitchenko O, Morizane R, Murthy N, Prather RS, Ronald JA, Roy S, Roy S, Sabbisetti V, Saltzman WM, Santangelo PJ, Segal DJ, Shimoyama M, Skala MC, Tarantal AF, Tilton JC, Truskey GA, Vandsburger M, Watts JK, Wells KD, Wolfe SA, Xu Q, Xue W, Yi G, Zhou J. The NIH Somatic Cell Genome Editing program. Nature. 2021 04; 592(7853):195-204. PMID: 33828315.
      Citations: 32     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    15. Sullivan MV, Clay O, Moazami MP, Watts JK, Turner NW. Hybrid Aptamer-Molecularly Imprinted Polymer (aptaMIP) Nanoparticles from Protein Recognition-A Trypsin Model. Macromol Biosci. 2021 05; 21(5):e2100002. PMID: 33760365.
      Citations: 5     Fields:    
    16. Oomen ME, Hedger AK, Watts JK, Dekker J. Detecting chromatin interactions between and along sister chromatids with SisterC. Nat Methods. 2020 10; 17(10):1002-1009. PMID: 32968250.
      Citations: 10     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    17. Wang F, Zuroske T, Watts JK. RNA therapeutics on the rise. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2020 07; 19(7):441-442. PMID: 32341501.
      Citations: 58     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    18. Price DA, Kartje ZJ, Hughes JA, Hill TD, Loth TM, Watts JK, Gagnon KT, Moran SD. Infrared Spectroscopy Reveals the Preferred Motif Size and Local Disorder in Parallel Stranded DNA G-Quadruplexes. Chembiochem. 2020 10 01; 21(19):2792-2804. PMID: 32372560.
      Citations: 2     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    19. Watts JK, Ockene IS. RNA Interference for the Masses? siRNA Targeting PCSK9 Promises Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. Nucleic Acid Ther. 2020 02; 30(1):1-3. PMID: 31928497.
      Citations: 2     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    20. Aartsma-Rus A, Watts JK. The Munich Meeting: Medical Maturation, More Mechanisms, and Milasen. Nucleic Acid Ther. 2019 12; 29(6):302-304. PMID: 31804155.
      Citations: 2     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    21. Watts JK, Brown RH, Khvorova A. Nucleic Acid Therapeutics for Neurological Diseases. Neurotherapeutics. 2019 04; 16(2):245-247. PMID: 31037650.
      Citations: 9     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimals
    22. Debacker AJ, Sharma VK, Meda Krishnamurthy P, O'Reilly D, Greenhill R, Watts JK. Next-Generation Peptide Nucleic Acid Chimeras Exhibit High Affinity and Potent Gene Silencing. Biochemistry. 2019 02 12; 58(6):582-589. PMID: 30520300.
      Citations: 3     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    23. Mir A, Alterman JF, Hassler MR, Debacker AJ, Hudgens E, Echeverria D, Brodsky MH, Khvorova A, Watts JK, Sontheimer EJ. Heavily and fully modified RNAs guide efficient SpyCas9-mediated genome editing. Nat Commun. 2018 07 06; 9(1):2641. PMID: 29980686.
      Citations: 25     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    24. Sharma VK, Osborn MF, Hassler MR, Echeverria D, Ly S, Ulashchik EA, Martynenko-Makaev YV, Shmanai VV, Zatsepin TS, Khvorova A, Watts JK. Novel Cluster and Monomer-Based GalNAc Structures Induce Effective Uptake of siRNAs in Vitro and in Vivo. Bioconjug Chem. 2018 07 18; 29(7):2478-2488. PMID: 29898368.
      Citations: 11     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    25. Osborn MF, Coles AH, Golebiowski D, Echeverria D, Moazami MP, Watts JK, Sena-Esteves M, Khvorova A. Efficient Gene Silencing in Brain Tumors with Hydrophobically Modified siRNAs. Mol Cancer Ther. 2018 06; 17(6):1251-1258. PMID: 29654062.
      Citations: 6     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    26. Hu J, Rong Z, Gong X, Zhou Z, Sharma VK, Xing C, Watts JK, Corey DR, Mootha VV. Oligonucleotides targeting TCF4 triplet repeat expansion inhibit RNA foci and mis-splicing in Fuchs' dystrophy. Hum Mol Genet. 2018 03 15; 27(6):1015-1026. PMID: 29325021.
      Citations: 27     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    27. Li L, Shen X, Liu Z, Norrbom M, Prakash TP, O'Reilly D, Sharma VK, Damha MJ, Watts JK, Rigo F, Corey DR. Activation of Frataxin Protein Expression by Antisense Oligonucleotides Targeting the Mutant Expanded Repeat. Nucleic Acid Ther. 2018 02; 28(1):23-33. PMID: 29341839.
      Citations: 17     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    28. Sharma VK, Singh SK, Krishnamurthy PM, Alterman JF, Haraszti RA, Khvorova A, Prasad AK, Watts JK. Synthesis and biological properties of triazole-linked locked nucleic acid. Chem Commun (Camb). 2017 Aug 03; 53(63):8906-8909. PMID: 28736781.
      Citations: 14     Fields:    Translation:Cells
    29. Pendergraff HM, Krishnamurthy PM, Debacker AJ, Moazami MP, Sharma VK, Niitsoo L, Yu Y, Tan YN, Haitchi HM, Watts JK. Locked Nucleic Acid Gapmers and Conjugates Potently Silence ADAM33, an Asthma-Associated Metalloprotease with Nuclear-Localized mRNA. Mol Ther Nucleic Acids. 2017 Sep 15; 8:158-168. PMID: 28918018.
      Citations:    
    30. Khvorova A, Watts JK. The chemical evolution of oligonucleotide therapies of clinical utility. Nat Biotechnol. 2017 Mar; 35(3):238-248. PMID: 28244990.
      Citations: 314     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimals
    31. Pendergraff HM, Debacker AJ, Watts JK. Single-Stranded Silencing RNAs: Hit Rate and Chemical Modification. Nucleic Acid Ther. 2016 08; 26(4):216-22. PMID: 27123752.
      Citations: 5     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    32. Sharma VK, Watts JK. Oligonucleotide therapeutics: chemistry, delivery and clinical progress. Future Med Chem. 2015; 7(16):2221-42. PMID: 26510815.
      Citations: 33     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    33. Poma A, Brahmbhatt H, Pendergraff HM, Watts JK, Turner NW. Generation of novel hybrid aptamer-molecularly imprinted polymeric nanoparticles. Adv Mater. 2015 Jan 27; 27(4):750-8. PMID: 25413444.
      Citations: 7     Fields:    Translation:Cells
    34. Schaukowitch K, Joo JY, Liu X, Watts JK, Martinez C, Kim TK. Enhancer RNA facilitates NELF release from immediate early genes. Mol Cell. 2014 Oct 02; 56(1):29-42. PMID: 25263592.
      Citations: 224     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    35. Watts JK. Locked nucleic acid: tighter is different. Chem Commun (Camb). 2013 Jun 25; 49(50):5618-20. PMID: 23682352.
      Citations: 13     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimals
    36. Watts JK, Corey DR. Silencing disease genes in the laboratory and the clinic. J Pathol. 2012 Jan; 226(2):365-79. PMID: 22069063.
      Citations: 168     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    37. Gagnon KT, Watts JK, Pendergraff HM, Montaillier C, Thai D, Potier P, Corey DR. Antisense and antigene inhibition of gene expression by cell-permeable oligonucleotide-oligospermine conjugates. J Am Chem Soc. 2011 Jun 08; 133(22):8404-7. PMID: 21539318.
      Citations: 15     Fields:    Translation:Cells
    38. Hu J, Gagnon KT, Liu J, Watts JK, Syeda-Nawaz J, Bennett CF, Swayze EE, Randolph J, Chattopadhyaya J, Corey DR. Allele-selective inhibition of ataxin-3 (ATX3) expression by antisense oligomers and duplex RNAs. Biol Chem. 2011 Apr; 392(4):315-25. PMID: 21294677.
      Citations: 29     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    39. Anzahaee MY, Watts JK, Alla NR, Nicholson AW, Damha MJ. Energetically important C-H???F-C pseudohydrogen bonding in water: evidence and application to rational design of oligonucleotides with high binding affinity. J Am Chem Soc. 2011 Feb 02; 133(4):728-31. PMID: 21171597.
      Citations: 18     Fields:    Translation:Cells
    40. Deleavey GF, Watts JK, Alain T, Robert F, Kalota A, Aishwarya V, Pelletier J, Gewirtz AM, Sonenberg N, Damha MJ. Synergistic effects between analogs of DNA and RNA improve the potency of siRNA-mediated gene silencing. Nucleic Acids Res. 2010 Jul; 38(13):4547-57. PMID: 20413581.
      Citations: 27     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    41. Watts JK, Yu D, Charisse K, Montaillier C, Potier P, Manoharan M, Corey DR. Effect of chemical modifications on modulation of gene expression by duplex antigene RNAs that are complementary to non-coding transcripts at gene promoters. Nucleic Acids Res. 2010 Aug; 38(15):5242-59. PMID: 20403811.
      Citations: 21     Fields:    Translation:HumansCells
    42. Watts JK, Corey DR. Clinical status of duplex RNA. Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2010 Jun 01; 20(11):3203-7. PMID: 20399650.
      Citations: 21     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    43. Watts JK, Mart?n-Pintado N, G?mez-Pinto I, Schwartzentruber J, Portella G, Orozco M, Gonz?lez C, Damha MJ. Differential stability of 2'F-ANA*RNA and ANA*RNA hybrid duplexes: roles of structure, pseudohydrogen bonding, hydration, ion uptake and flexibility. Nucleic Acids Res. 2010 Apr; 38(7):2498-511. PMID: 20071751.
      Citations: 26     Fields:    Translation:Cells
    44. Deleavey GF, Watts JK, Damha MJ. Chemical modification of siRNA. Curr Protoc Nucleic Acid Chem. 2009 Dec; Chapter 16:Unit 16.3. PMID: 20013783.
      Citations: 19     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    45. Watts JK, Katolik A, Viladoms J, Damha MJ. Studies on the hydrolytic stability of 2'-fluoroarabinonucleic acid (2'F-ANA). Org Biomol Chem. 2009 May 07; 7(9):1904-10. PMID: 19590787.
      Citations: 21     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    46. Watts JK, Deleavey GF, Damha MJ. Chemically modified siRNA: tools and applications. Drug Discov Today. 2008 Oct; 13(19-20):842-55. PMID: 18614389.
      Citations: 144     Fields:    Translation:HumansAnimalsCells
    47. Watts JK, Johnston BD, Jayakanthan K, Wahba AS, Pinto BM, Damha MJ. Synthesis and biophysical characterization of oligonucleotides containing a 4'-selenonucleotide. J Am Chem Soc. 2008 Jul 09; 130(27):8578-9. PMID: 18543920.
      Citations: 5     Fields:    Translation:Cells
    48. Watts JK, Choubdar N, Sadalapure K, Robert F, Wahba AS, Pelletier J, Pinto BM, Damha MJ. 2'-fluoro-4'-thioarabino-modified oligonucleotides: conformational switches linked to siRNA activity. Nucleic Acids Res. 2007; 35(5):1441-51. PMID: 17284457.
      Citations: 23     Fields:    Translation:Cells
    49. Watts JK, Sadalapure K, Choubdar N, Pinto BM, Damha MJ. Synthesis and conformational analysis of 2'-fluoro-5-methyl-4'-thioarabinouridine (4'S-FMAU). J Org Chem. 2006 Feb 03; 71(3):921-5. PMID: 16438502.
      Citations: 6     Fields:    Translation:Cells
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