Western Carolina University

Department of Chemistry and Physics
Associate Professor, Inorganic Biochemistry

Phone: 828-227-3668
Email: summers@email.wcu.edu
Office Address: 408 Stillwell Science Building

Education:

• Ph.D., Georgia Institute of Technology
• B.Sc.,  University of West Florida

Area of Interest:

Biophysical chemistry related to oxidative stress; chemical kinetics; inhibition of Superoxide Dismutase enzymes by low molecular weight compounds; role of metal ions in the antibiotic behavior of medicinal clays.

Selected Publications:

• T. M. Cunningham, J. Koehl, J. S. Summers, S. E. Haydel. "pH-dependent metal ion toxicity influences the antibacterial activity of two natural mineral mixtures." PLoS ONE, 2010 (doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0009456).
• Jack S. Summers*, Joseph B. Baker, Dan Meyerstein, Amir Mizrahi, Israel Zilberman, Haim Cohen, Christopher M. Wilson, Jamie R. Jones, "Measured Rates of Fluoride / Metal Association Correlate with Rates of Superoxide / Metal Reactions for Fe^IIIEDTA(H2O)¯ and Related Complexes." J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 2008, 130, 1727.
• Jack S. Summers, US Patent Application, Methods for predicting the reactivities of metal complexes toward catalyzing biological oxidation / reduction reactions.  Full patent application filed September, 2008. Provisional application filed September, 2007.
• Jack S. Summers, Anthony Giordano, Michael Sturgess, and John Shimko, Methods for detecting and quantifying binding and inhibition of binding of species to nucleic acids. US Patent #US 7,037,660 B2, May 2, 2006.
• Jack S. Summers*, Karel Base, Hakim Boukhalfa, Jason E. Payne,1 Barbara Ramsay Shaw, and Alvin L. Crumbliss, “The Use of Phosphorus Ligand NMR Probes to Investigate Electronic and Second-Sphere Solvent Effects in Ligand Substitution Reactions at Manganese(II) and Manganese(III),” Inorg. Chem., 2005, 44, 3405-3411.
• Jack S. Summers,* John Shimko, Fredric L. Freedman, Christopher T. Badger, and Michael Sturgess, “Displacement of Mn2+ from RNA by K+, Mg2+, Neomycin b, and an Arginine Rich Peptide: Indirect Detection of Nucleic Acid/Ligand Interactions using Phosphorus Relaxation Enhancement (PhoRE),” J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2002, 124, 14934-14939.
• Jack S. Summers*, Charles G. Hoogstraten, R. David Britt, Karel Base, Barbara Ramsay Shaw, Anthony A. Ribeiro, and Alvin L. Crumbliss, “³¹P NMR Probes of Chemical Dynamics: Paramagnetic Relaxation Enhancement of the ¹H and ³¹P NMR Resonances of Methylphosphite and Methylethylphosphate Anions by Selected Metal Complexes,” Inorg. Chem., 2001, 40, 6547-6554.
• Jack S. Summers and Barbara Ramsay Shaw, “Boranophosphates as Mimics of Natural Phosphodiesters in DNA,” Curr. Med. Chem. 2001, 8, 1147-1156.