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About

My team focuses on understanding the molecular and co-ordinated control of the two fundamental pathways of apoptosis and mitophagy (mitochondrial quality control) and its importance to Parkinson’s disease and cancer.

Our research has led the field in understanding of how the fundamental cell process of apoptosis is controlled, how the apoptosis effector proteins BAX and BAK function to kill cells and has identified new avenues to manipulate their activity therapeutically.

More recently, my lab has highlighted a new level of integration between the machineries that control cell death and damage-induced mitophagy that might explain why defective activity of the key protein Parkin drives the pathology of early onset Parkinson’s disease. My lab has established and shared new animal and cell models to investigate Parkinson’s disease, mitochondrial biology, and cell death research.

We have established key collaborations with the clinic. With Dr Andrew Evans (Director, Movement Disorders Program, Royal Melbourne Hospital), we have a pipeline for the recruitment of Parkinson’s disease patients and the generation of patient-derived cells (dopaminergic neurons and astrocytes) to understand the disease in individuals and to accelerate clinical translation of our research.

Publications

Selected publications from Prof Grant Dewson

Huang AS, Chin HS, Reljic B, Djajawi TM, Tan IKL, Gong JN, Stroud DA, Huang DCS, van Delft MF, DEWSON G. Mitochondrial E3 ubiquitin ligase MARCHF5 controls BAK apoptotic activity independently of BH3-only proteins. CELL DEATH & DIFFERENTIATION. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41418-022-01067-z. PMID: 36171332

Schmidt MF, Gan ZY, Komander D, DEWSON G. Ubiquitin signalling in neurodegeneration: mechanisms and therapeutic opportunities. CELL DEATH & DIFFERENTIATION. 2013. 152(3):519-31.PMID: 33414510

Gan ZY, Callegari S, Cobbold SA, Cotton TR, Mlodzianoski MJ, Schubert AF, Geoghegan ND, Rogers KL, Leis A, DEWSON G, Glukhova A, Komander, D. Activation mechanism of PINK1. NATURE. 2021. 602:328-335. PMID: 34933320

Masaldan S, Callegari S, Dewson G. Therapeutic targeting of mitophagy in Parkinson’s disease. Biochem Soc Trans. 2022 Apr 29;50(2):783-797. doi: 10.1042/BST20211107.PMID: 35311891

Bernardini JP, Lazarou M, Dewson G. Parkin and mitophagy in cancer. Oncogene. 2017 Mar;36(10):1315-1327. PMID: 27593930.

Li K, van Delft MF, Dewson G. Too much death can kill you: inhibiting intrinsic apoptosis to treat disease. EMBO J. 2021 Jul 15;40(14):e107341. doi: 10.15252/embj.2020107341. PMID: 34037273

Sandow JJ, Tan IK, Huang AS, Masaldan S, Bernardini JP, Wardak AZ, Birkinshaw RW, Ninnis RL, Liu Z, Dalseno D, Lio D, Infusini G, Czabotar PE, Webb AI, DEWSON G. Dynamic reconfiguration of pro-apoptotic BAK on membranes. EMBO J. 2021. 40(20):e107237.

Chin HS, Li MX, Tan IKL, Scicluna K, Kelly GL, Chappaz S, Khaw SL, Chang C, Sandow JJ, Hockings C, Hall CM, Kueh AJ, Reljic B, Ryan MT, Kluck RM, P Bouillet1,2, Herold MJ, Gray DHD, Huang DCS, van Delft MF DEWSON G.
VDAC2 enables BAX to mediate apoptosis and limit tumour development. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS. 2018. 9(1):4967.

McArthur K, Whitehead LW, Heddleston JM, Li L, Padman BS, Oorschot V, Geoghegan ND, Chappaz S, Davidson S, San Chin H, Lane RM, Dramicanin M, Saunders TL, Sugiana C, Lessene R, Osellame LD, Chew TL, DEWSON G, Lazarou M, Ramm G, Lessene G, Ryan MT, Rogers KL, van Delft MF, Kile BT. BAK/BAX macropores facilitate mitochondrial herniation and mtDNA efflux during apoptosis. SCIENCE. 2018. 359(6378). PMID: 29472455

Li MX, Tan IKL, Ma SB, Hockings C, Kratina T, Dengler MA, Alsop AE, Kluck RM, Dewson G. BAK α6 permits activation by BH3-only proteins and homooligomerization via the canonical hydrophobic groove. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Jul 18;114(29):7629-7634. PMID: 28673969.

Schenk RL, Strasser A, Dewson G. BCL-2: Long and winding path from discovery to therapeutic target. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2017 Jan 15;482(3):459-469. PMID: 28212732.

Uren RT, O’Hely M, Iyer S, Bartolo R, Shi MX, Brouwer JM, Alsop AE, Dewson G, Kluck RM. Disordered clusters of Bak dimers rupture mitochondria during apoptosis. Elife. 2017 Feb 6;6. pii: e19944. PMID: 28182867.

Ma SB, Nguyen TN, Tan I, Ninnis R, Iyer S, Stroud DA, Menard M, Kluck RM, Ryan MT, Dewson G. Bax targets mitochondria by distinct mechanisms before or during apoptotic cell death: A requirement for VDAC2 or Bak for efficient Bax apoptotic function. Cell Death Differ. 2014. Dec;21(12):1925-35. PMID: 25146925

Ma S, Hockings C, Anwari K, Kratina T, Fennell S, Lazarou M, Ryan MT, Kluck RM, Dewson G. Assembly of the Bak apoptotic pore: a critical role for the Bak protein alpha6 helix in the multimerization of homodimers during apoptosis. The J Biol Chem. 2013 Sep 6;288(36):26027-38. PMID: 23893415.

Czabotar PE, Westphal D, Dewson G, Ma S, Hockings C, Fairlie WD, Lee EF, Yao S, Robin AY, Smith BJ, Huang DC, Kluck RM, Adams JM, Colman PM. Bax crystal structures reveal how BH3 domains activate Bax and nucleate its oligomerization to induce apoptosis. Cell. 2013 Jan 31;152(3):519-31. PMID: 23374347.

Dewson G, Ma S, Frederick P, Hockings C, Tan I, Kratina T, Kluck RM. Bax dimerizes via a symmetric BH3:groove interface during apoptosis. Cell Death Differ. 2012 Apr;19(4):661-70. PMID: 22015607.

Dewson G, Kratina T, Czabotar P, Day CL, Adams JM, Kluck RM. Bak activation for apoptosis involves oligomerization of dimers via their alpha6 helices. Mol Cell. 2009 Nov 25;36(4):696-703. PMID: 19941828.

Dewson G, Kratina T, Sim HW, Puthalakath H, Adams JM, Colman PM, Kluck RM. To trigger apoptosis, Bak exposes its BH3 domain and homodimerizes via BH3:groove interactions. Mol Cell. 2008 May 9;30(3):369-80. PMID: 18471982.

Lab research projects

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