Find Faculty Members at MUSC.

Andrew G Jakymiw PhD

Provider Image
Rank
  • Associate Professor
College
  • College of Dental Medicine
Department
  • Department of Biomedical & Community Health Sciences
Academic Focus
  • Nucleic acid-based therapeutics; Cell-penetrating peptides
  • Cancer; Age-related macular degeneration; Organ transplantation
Faculty email addresses should not be used to seek medical advice or to make medical appointments. Please visit MyChart for medical appointments or to contact your provider.

Locations

Office Location
street
room

Biography

Education:

PhD, University of Calgary, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Postdoctoral training, University of Florida (UFlorida)

 

Honors and Awards:

Canadian Institutes for Health Research Studentship (1997-2002)

Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Incentive Award (2001-2002)

Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research Studentship Award (2002-2003)

American Society for Cell Biology Postdoctoral Travel Award (2005) 

Bankhead-Coley Florida Cancer Program New Investigator Research Grant (2008-2011)

K99/R00 NIH Pathway to Independence Award (2008-2014)   

 

Professional Experience:

2007 – 2010: Research Assistant Professor, UFlorida, Dept. of Oral Biology

2010 – 2018: Assistant Professor, MUSC, Dept. of Oral Health Sciences

2012 – Present: Adjunct Faculty, Clemson University, Dept. of Bioengineering 

2018 – Present: Associate Professor, MUSC, Dept. of Biomedical & Community Health Sciences, Division of Basic Science Research; Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (secondary appointment)

 

Research Interests:

Dr. Jakymiw’s research is focused on the study and development of cell-penetrating peptide (CPP)-mediated targeted delivery strategies for therapeutic nucleic acid-based drugs in the treatment of varied diseases, including cancer and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), as well as in the prevention of early ischemic injury in organ transplantations.  Moreover, his laboratory is also involved in the study of cell entry mechanisms that CPPs employ to deliver various nucleic acid-based cargos into cells, which could prove instrumental in informing new CPP designs toward the advancement of more efficacious peptide carriers for human therapies.

 

Relevant Publications:

Wilson K, Holjencin C, Lee H, Annamalai B, Ishii M, Gilbert JL, Jakymiw A, Rohrer B. Development of a cell-penetrating peptide-based nanocomplex for long-term delivery of intact mitochondrial DNA into epithelial cells. Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids 36(1):102449, 2025.

 

Holjencin C, Jakymiw A. MicroRNAs and their big therapeutic impacts: Delivery strategies for cancer intervention. Cells 11:2332, 2022. PMID: 35954176; PMCID: PMC9367537

 

Holjencin CE, Feinberg CR, Hedrick T, Halsey G, Williams RD, Patel PV, Biles E, Cummings JC, Wagner C, Vyavahare N, Jakymiw A. Advancing peptide siRNA-carrier designs through L/D-amino acid stereochemical modifications to enhance gene silencing. Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids 24:462-476, 2021.  PMID:33868789, PMCID: PMC8040110

 

Cummings JC, Zhang H, and Jakymiw A. Peptide carriers to the rescue: overcoming the barriers to siRNA delivery for cancer treatment. Translational Research 214:92-104, 2019. PMID: 31404520, PMCID: PMC6848774 

 

Alexander-Bryant AA, Zhang H, Attaway CC, Pugh W, Eggart L, Sansevere RM, Andino LM, Dinh L, Cantini LP, and Jakymiw A. Dual peptide-mediated targeted delivery of bioactive siRNAs to oral cancer cells in vivo. Oral Oncology 72:123-131, 2017. PMID: 28797448, PMCID: PMC5580030

 

Alexander-Bryant AA, Dumitriu A, Attaway CC, Yu H, Jakymiw A. Fusogenic-oligoarginine peptide-mediated silencing of the CIP2A oncogene suppresses oral cancer tumor growth in vivo. Journal of Controlled Release 218:72-81, 2015. PMID: 26386438, PMCID: PMC4646222 

 

Cantini L, Attaway CC, Butler B, Andino LM, Sokolosky ML, Jakymiw A. Fusogenic-oligoarginine peptide-mediated delivery of siRNAs targeting the CIP2A oncogene into oral cancer cells. PLoS ONE 8(9):e73348, 2013. PMID: 24019920, PMCID: PMC3760901

 

News:

Progress Notes | Health & Research at MUSC: Restoring vision by recharging cells' batteries | MUSC Health | Charleston SC

 Hollings Cancer Center: https://hollingscancercenter.musc.edu/news/archive/2021/05/24/hollings-researchers-improve-peptide-drug-carriers-to-enhance-gene-silencing

EurekAlert!: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-05/muos-cct052421.php

Fierce Biotech: https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/outsmarting-cancer-rna-genome-tuning-drugs-and-other-gene-altering-therapies