Our main research interest is the molecular basis of the response of human cells to DNA damaging agents, including investigation of DNA damage response pathways in primary normal human melanocytes exposed to long-wavelength UVA light, and in human mesenchymal stem cells exposed to platinum-based chemotherapeutic agents or ionising radiation (in collaboration with the Regenerative Medicine Institute at NUI, Galway).
Mechanistic studies of the response to human cells to DNA damage-induced replication arrest focus on the role of the human POLH gene product DNA polymerase eta in translesion synthesis, and on the activation of downstream damage signalling pathways, in particular PIK kinase-mediated phosphorylation of replication protein A (RPA).
We have an ongoing collaboration with Dr. F. Aldabbagh, School of Chemistry, NUI, Galway to characterise the effects of novel derivatives of the anti-cancer drug mitomycin C on normal and cancer cell lines.