Benoit Driesschaert, PhD

Associate Professor

Organization:

West Virginia University School of Pharmacy

Department:

Pharmaceutical Sciences

Classification:

Faculty

Member

Organization:

West Virginia University WVU Cancer Institute

Department:

WVU Cancer Institute Research Programs

Classification:

Faculty

• PhD, University of Louvain, Belgium

2021 to October 2023

[2023]

1. Eubank, T.D., Bobko, A.A., Hoblitzell, E.H. Driesschaert, B, Khramtsov, VV. In Vivo Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Molecular Profiling of Tumor Microenvironment upon Tumor Progression to Malignancy in an Animal Model of Breast Cancer. Mol Imaging Biol, 2023. doi:10.1007/s11307-023-01847-0

2. Shaw MS, Poncelet M, Viswakarma N, Vallerini GP, Hameed S, Gluth TD, Geldenhuys V, Hoblitzell EH, Eubank, TD, Epel B, Kotecha M, Driesschaert, B. SOX71, a biocompatible succinyl derivative of the triarylmethyl radical OX071 for in vivo quantitative oxygen mapping using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance. Mol. Imaging Biol., 2023, under revision.

3. Mihalik NE, Steinberger KJ, Stevens AM, Bobko AA, Hoblitzell EH, Tseytlin O, Akhter H, Dziadowicz SA, Wang L, O’Connell R, Monaghan KL, Hu G, Mo X, Khramtsov VV, Tseytlin M, Driesschaert B, Wan ECK, Eubank TD. Dose-specific intratumor GM-CSF in the modulation of breast tumor oxygenation and anti-tumor immunity. J. Immunology, 2023, accepted.

4. Martin RM, Diaz S, Poncelet M, Driesschaert B, Barth E, Kotecha M, Epel B, Eaton GR, Biller JR. Towards a Nano-Encapsulated EPR Imaging Agent for Clinical Use. Mol Imaging Biol, 2023, accepted.

5. Velayutham, M, Poncelet, M, Perini, JA, Kupec, JT. Dietz, MJ, Driesschaert B, Khramtsov VV. EPR Viscometric Measurements Using a 13C-Labeled Triarylmethyl Radical in Protein-Based Biotherapeutics and Human Synovial Fluids. Appl. Magn. Reson. 2023; 54, 779–79.

6. Evans JV, Suman S, Goruganthu MUL, Tchekneva EE, Guan S, Arasada RR, Antonucci A, Piao L, Ilgisonis I, Bobko AA, Driesschaert B, Uzhachenko RV, Hoyd R, Samouilov A, Amann J, Wu R, Wei L, Pallerla A, Ryzhov SV, Feoktistov I, Park KP, Kikuchi T, Castro J, Ivanova AV, Kanagasabai T, Owen DH, Spakowicz DJ, Zweier JL, Carbone DP, Novitskiy SV, Khramtsov VV, Shanker A, Dikov MM. Improving combination therapies: Targeting A2B adenosine receptor to modulate metabolic tumor microenvironment and immunosuppression. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 2023. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djad091.

7. Hasanbasri Z, Poncelet M, Hunter H, Driesschaert B, Saxena S. A new 13C trityl-based spin label enables the use of DEER for distance measurements. J. Magn. Reson. 2023; 347, 107363.

8. Gluth TD, Poncelet M, Gencheva M, Hoblitzell EH, Khramtsov VV, Eubank TD, Driesschaert B. Biocompatible Monophosphonated Trityl Spin Probe, HOPE71, for In Vivo Measurement of pO2, pH, and [Pi] by Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy. Anal. Chem. 2023; 95, 2, 946–954.

[2022]

9. Poncelet M, Ngendahimana T, Gluth TD, Hoblitzell EH, Eubank TD, Eaton GR, Eaton SS, Driesschaert B. Synthesis and characterization of a biocompatible 13C1 isotopologue of trityl radical OX071 for in vivo EPR viscometry. Analyst. 2022; 147(24): 5643-5648.

10. Tan KO, Yang L, Mardini M, Boon Cheong C, Driesschaert B, Dincă M, Griffin RG. Observing Nearby Nuclei on Paramagnetic Trityls and MOFs via DNP and Electron Decoupling. Chemistry Eur. J. 2022; 28(68): e202202556.

11. Moore W, Huffman JL, Driesschaert B, Eaton SS, Eaton GR. Impact of Chlorine Substitution on Electron Spin Relaxation of a Trityl Radical. Appl. Magn. Reson. 2022; 53(3-5): 797-808.

[2021]

12. Huffman JL, Poncelet M, Moore W, Eaton SS, Eaton GR, Driesschaert B. Perchlorinated Triarylmethyl Radical 99% Enriched 13C at the Central Carbon as EPR Spin Probe Highly Sensitive to Molecular Tumbling. J. Phys. Chem. B 2021; 125, 27, 7380–7387.

13. Velayutham M, Poncelet M, Eubank TD, Driesschaert B, Khramtsov VV. Biological Applications of Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Viscometry Using a 13C-Labeled Trityl Spin Probe. Molecules 2021; 26, 2781.

14. Hasanbasri Z, Singewald K, Gluth TD, Driesschaert B, Saxena S. Cleavage-Resistant Protein Labeling with Hydrophilic Trityl Enables Distance Measurements In-Cell. J. Phys. Chem. B 2021; 125(20): 5265-5274.

15. Mihalik NE, Wen S, Driesschaert B, Eubank TD. Formulation and In Vitro Characterization of PLGA/PLGA-PEG Nanoparticles Loaded with Murine Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor. AAPS PharmSciTech; 2021; 22(5): 191.

16. Gluth TD, Poncelet M, DeVience S, Gencheva M, Hoblitzell EH, Khramtsov VV, Eubank TD, Driesschaert B. Large-scale synthesis of a monophosphonated tetrathiatriarylmethyl spin probe for concurrent in vivo measurement of pO2, pH and inorganic phosphate by EPR. RSC Adv., 2021, 11, 25951-25954.

 

 

 

 

Dr. Driesschaert holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Louvain (2013), Belgium. He conducted his postdoctoral research at the Ohio State University and then at WVU. In 2017 Dr. Driesschaert was awarded an NIH K99/R00 pathway to independence and was recruited by the WVU School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, as an Assistant Professor in 2019.

My overall research program focuses on the development of stable organic radicals of type triarylmethyl (TAM) for four main applications in biomedical sciences (Figure 1). Namely, (i) Spin probes for the measurement and mapping of important physiological parameters in biological systems (in vivo and in vitro) using EPR spectroscopy and imaging, (ii) Spin labels for distance measurement in structural biology, (iii) Non-metallic contrast agents for MRI, and (iv) Hyperpolarizing agents for NMR and MRI.

 

Fig. 1. The four applications of triarylmethyl radicals pursued in the laboratory.

 

Current extramural research support (Driesschaert as PI)

1. Biocompatible triarylmethyl radical-based dendrimers as nonmetallic contrast agents for MRI.

R01 EB032321 (PI: Driesschaert) 07/01/2022 – 03/31/2026

2. Electron Spin Resonance Microfluidics as a new tool in chemical single-cell population analysis.

R21 GM143595 (MPI: Driesschaert/Blank) 06/01/2022 – 03/31/2024

3. Imaging enzyme activity by Overhauser-enhanced MRI.

R21 EB028553 (PI: Driesschaert) 08/04/2020 – 05/31/2024

4. Biocompatible Magnetic Resonance Probes for in vivo Concurrent Profiling of Interstitial Oxygenation, Acidosis, and Inorganic Phosphate: Preclinical Application to Cancer.

R00 EB023990 (PI: Driesschaert) 08/01/2019 – 04/30/2024