Translational DNA Repair Group

Translational DNA Repair research group

Aim

Our research's aim is targeting DNA repair for personalized cancer therapy. 

 

-- Dr Srinivasan Madhusudan, Head of Translational DNA Repair Group 

Examining DNA

 

Research issues

Chemotherapy and radiation are commonly used to treat cancer. However many tumours are resistant to such treatments because cancer cells are able to counteract the effects of therapy by utilising the DNA repair machinery to repair DNA damage induced by these agents. The focus of our research is to block DNA repair in cells and thereby enhance cancer cell death. This will lead to better response to treatments and improve patient outcomes.

What we are doing about...

1. Therapy response prediction?

We are developing new biomarkers to predict who will respond to therapy and who will not.

2. Cancer drugs?

We are developing new drugs to block DNA repair and increase cancer cell kill.

Current Projects

  • APE1 inhibition in melanoma: MRC funded Clinical Research fellowship
  • APE1 inhibition in glioma: MRC funded Clinical Research fellowship 
  • Targeting base excision repair for personalized cancer therapy: IDB developing solutions scholarship 
  • Targeting DNA double strand break repair in breast cancer: Saudi Government scholarship

Outcomes

Awards/Prizes

National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Prize 2012 - Dr Rachel Abbotts 

Dr Rachel Abbotts, MRC Clinical Research Fellow at the Academic Unit of Oncology, MOL has won the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Prize for 2012. Rachel has been recognised for her excellent work on APE1 manipulation in PTEN/RAD51 deficient melanoma systems for synthetic lethality application.

 

Breast Cancer Campaign award to study resistance to breast cancer treatment

Goulstonian Lectureship 2011 - Dr Srinivasan Madhusudan

Publications

Overcoming resistance to cancer treatment

New hope for better treatment for a rising cancer

More publications

  • Sultana R, Abdel-fatah T, Abbotts R, Chan S, Hawkes C, EA Rakha, Ball G, Ellis IO and Madhusudan S. Targeting XRCC1 deficiency in breast cancer for personalized therapy. Cancer Research. 2013; 73(5):1621-34. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-12-2929
  • Abdel-Fatah T, Sultana R, Abbotts R, Hawkes C, Seedhouse C, Chan S, and Madhusudan S. Clinicopathological and functional significance of XRCC1 (X-ray repair cross-complementing gene 1) expression in ovarian cancer. International Journal of Cancer. 2013;132(12):2778-86. doi: 10.1002/ijc.27980
  • Sultana R, Abdel-Fatah T, Perry C, Moseley P, Albarakti N, Seedhouse C, Chan S and Madhusudan S. Ataxia telangiectasia mutated and Rad3 Related (ATR) protein kinase inhibition is synthetically lethal in XRCC1 deficient ovarian cancer cells. PLOS one. 2013;8(2):e57098. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0057098
  • Abdel-Fatah T, Arora A, Gorguc I, Abbotts R, Beebeejaun S, Storr S , Mohan V , Hawkes C, Soomro I, Lobo DN, Parsons SL and Madhusudan S. Are DNA repair factors promising biomarkers for personalized therapy in gastric cancer? Antioxidant & Redox Signaling, 2012 doi:10.1089/ars.2012.4873. 
  • Sultana R, McNeill DR, Mohammed MZ, Abbotts R, Zdzienicka MZ, , Laughton CA, Dekker LV, Fischer PM, Patel PM, Seedhouse C , Wilson DM III, Madhusudan S. Synthetic lethal targeting of DNA double strand break repair deficient cells by human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonucealase (APE1) inhibitors. International Journal of Cancer, 2012 Feb 29. doi: 10.1002/ijc.27512.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Translational DNA Repair Group

The University of Nottingham
Division of Oncology, School of Medicine
Hucknall Road, Nottingham
NG5 1PB, UK


telephone: +44 (0) 115 82 31850
email:srinivasan.madhusudan@nottingham.ac.uk