Contact
Biography
Dr Jennie Jeyapalan is a molecular biologist whose area of interest is in endocrine-related cancer specifically understanding the role of epigenetics in cancer progression and treatment resistance. Jennie obtained her BSc (Hons) degree in Molecular Biology at University of Liverpool, UK (1999) and then her PhD at the University of Nottingham, UK (2003). Jennie then moved into cancer research as a postdoctoral researcher where she involved in projects on alternative telomere maintenance mechanisms (University of Leicester, UK, 2003-2008), DNA methylation and microRNAs in pediatric germ cell tumours (University of Nottingham, UK, 2008-2010) and low grade astrocytomas (Barts and The london School of Medicine and Dentistry, QMUL, UK, 2010-2016). Jennie moved into endocrine-related cancers and translational oncology at the University of Nottingham (2017-2021), then joined as a Assistant Professor in 2021.
Teaching Summary
Year 3 VRP research module - Oncology rotation lead and Module convenor
Year 2 ENI module - lecturer on hormone signaling
Research Summary
Dr Jeyapalan's current research interests are within the role of epigenetics in cancer progression and treatment resistance. Her research is within endocrine-related cancers, specifically prostate,… read more
Current Research
Dr Jeyapalan's current research interests are within the role of epigenetics in cancer progression and treatment resistance. Her research is within endocrine-related cancers, specifically prostate, breast and ovarian cancers. Histones are the subunits that DNA is wrapped tightly around to form our chromosomes. The histones are chemically modified by a number of enzymes that change how DNA is open or closed for turning genes on/off (transcription) or for DNA replication as cells grow/proliferate. The group are currently investigating the histone modifiers of H3K36 and H3K4 and how alterations to the modifiers effects transcriptional regulations (turning genes on/off), splicing (alternative gene variants) and translation (gene to protein) in cancer progression. Her group utilize cell culture, molecular biology techniques, bioinformatics and immunohistochemistry.
Recent Publications
All publications can be found here https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6133-224X
Metzler VM, de Brot S, Haigh DB, Woodcock CL, Lothion-Roy J, Harris AE, Nilsson EM, Ntekim A, Persson JL, Robinson BD, Khani F, Laursen KB, Gudas LJ, Toss MS, Madhusudan S, Rakha E, Heery DM, Rutland CS, Mongan NP, Jeyapalan JN. The KDM5B and KDM1A lysine demethylases cooperate in regulating androgen receptor expression and signalling in prostate cancer. Front Cell Dev Biol. 2023 Apr 19;11:1116424. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1116424. PMID: 37152294; PMCID: PMC10154691.
Algethami M, Toss MS, Woodcock CL, Jaipal C, Brownlie J, Shoqafi A, Alblihy A, Mesquita KA, Green AR, Mongan NP, Jeyapalan JN, Rakha EA, Madhusudan S. Unravelling the clinicopathological and functional significance of replication protein A (RPA) heterotrimeric complex in breast cancers. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2023 Mar 30;9(1):18. doi: 10.1038/s41523-023-00524-3. PMID: 36997566; PMCID: PMC10063624.
Haigh DB, Woodcock CL, Lothion-Roy J, Harris AE, Metzler VM, Persson JL, Robinson BD, Khani F, Alsaleem M, Ntekim A, Madhusudan S, Davis MB, Laursen KB, Gudas LJ, Rutland CS, Toss MS, Archer N, Bodi Z, Rakha EA, Fray RG, Jeyapalan JN, Mongan NP. The METTL3 RNA Methyltransferase Regulates Transcriptional Networks in Prostate Cancer. Cancers (Basel). 2022 Oct 20;14(20):5148. doi: 10.3390/cancers14205148. PMID: 36291932; PMCID: PMC9600477.
Harris AE, Metzler VM, Lothion-Roy J, Varun D, Woodcock CL, Haigh DB, Endeley C, Haque M, Toss MS, Alsaleem M, Persson JL, Gudas LJ, Rakha E, Robinson BD, Khani F, Martin LM, Moyer JE, Brownlie J, Madhusudan S, Allegrucci C, James VH, Rutland CS, Fray RG, Ntekim A, de Brot S, Mongan NP, Jeyapalan JN. Exploring anti-androgen therapies in hormone dependent prostate cancer and new therapeutic routes for castration resistant prostate cancer. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022 Oct 3;13:1006101. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2022.1006101. PMID: 36263323; PMCID: PMC9575553.
Past Research
Dr Jeyapalan is an experienced cancer researcher, with expertise in epigenetics. Her previous roles enabled her to gain knowledge on telomere maintenance mechanisms, DNA methylation, microRNAs and histone modifications. Her research has involved many cancer types, osteosarcomas, liposarcomas, germ cell tumours, pLGG/astrocytomas, breast, ovarian and prostate cancer.
Future Research
The Jeyapalan Group's area of research encompasses Epigenetics and Epitranscriptomics and the interplay between the two in regulation of transcription, splicing and translation with focus in cancer. The areas of research are in the histone modifiers that effect the methylation status of histones, DNA methylation, microRNAs and more recently circRNAs. The focus is on endocrine-related cancers, specifically prostate, breast and ovarian cancers.