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Hawkins Laboratory
Department of Biochemistry
Biosketch - Dr Chris Hawkins
After completing a Bachelor of Science at the University of Melbourne, Chris graduated with Honours in Genetics in 1991. She gained additional experience working as a research assistant for two years, and then commenced a PhD at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, under David Vaux's supervision. Her PhD focussed on the evolutionary conservation of the molecular regulation of apoptosis, or programmed cell death. In 1997 she obtained her PhD and accepted a postdoctoral position in Bruce Hay's laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. For the next two years, she investigated Drosophila cell death signalling pathways. During that time she also developed two yeast-based systems for dissecting cell death pathways. In 1999 she returned to Australia, joining David Ashley's Tumour Immunology group at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne as a senior postdoctoral fellow. She established the Apoptosis Laboratory of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute and Royal Children's Hospital in 2002. The following year Chris received an RD Wright Career development Award from the National Health & Medical Research Council.
Chris joined the La Trobe University Department of Biochemistry in January 2006, and continues to hold a position of Senior Research Fellow within the Children's Cancer Centre of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute and Royal Children's Hospital.
Her work is currently supported by the following organisations:
- National Health & Medical Research Council
- Cancer Council of Victoria
- ANZ Trustees
- Clive and Vera Ramaciotti Foundations
- Cure for Life Foundation
Selected Publications:
Puryer, M.A. and Hawkins, C.J. Human, insect and nematode caspases kill Saccharomyces cerevisiae independantly of YCA1 and Aif1p. Apoptosis 11(4):509-17 (2006)
Li, S., Melissa J. Ferguson, M.J., Hawkins, C.J., Smith, C. and Elwood, N.J. Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) protest hematopoietic progenitor TF-1 cells from death and quiescence induced by cytokine withdrawal. Leukemia 20(7):1270-8 (2006)
Jabbour, A.M., Puryer, M.A., Yu, J.Y., Lithgow, T., Ashley, D.M., Vaux, D.L. Ekert, P.G. and Hawkins, C.J. Human Bcl-2 cannot directly inhibit the Caenorhabditis elegans Apaf-1 homologue CED-4, but can interact with EGL-1. J Cell Sci. 119(12): 2572-82 (2006)
Verhagen, A.M., Kratina, T.K., Hawkins, C.J., Silke, J., Ekert, P.G. and Vaux, D.L. Identification of mammalian mitochondrial proteins that interact with IAPs via N-terminal IAP binding motifs. Cell Death Diff. (Epub June 23rd 2006).
Muscat, A.M., Hawkins, C.J. and Ashley, D.M. Caspase-8 levels correlate with STAT-1 expression in high grade but not lower grade neuroblastoma. Cancer 107(4):824-831 (2006)
Ho, P-K., Ekert, P.G., Jabbour, A.M., Hawkins, C.J. Caspase-2 is resistant to inhibition by IAPs and can activate caspase-7. FEBS J. 272(6):1401-14 (2005).
Burri. L., Strahm, Y., Hawkins, C.J., Gentle, I.E., Puryer, M.A., Verhagen, A., Callus, B., Vaux, D., Lithgow, T. Mature DIABLO/Smac is produced by the IMP protease complex on the mitochondrial inner membrane. Mol. Biol. Cell 16(6):2926-33 (2005).
Ashley, D.M., Riffkin, C.D., Muscat, A., Knight, M.J., Kaye, A.H., Novak, U. Hawkins, C.J. Caspase-8 is absent or low in many ex vivo gliomas. Cancer. 104(7):1487-96. (2005)
Knight, M.J., Riffkin, C.D., Ekert, P.G., Ashley, D.M. & Hawkins, C.J. Caspase-8 levels affect neccessity for mitochondrial amplification in death ligand induced glioma cell apoptosis. Mol. Carcinog. 39(3):173-82 (2004).
Jabbour, A.M., Ho, P-K., Puryer, M.A., Ashley, D.M., Ekert, P.G., Hawkins, C.J. The Caenorhabditis elegans CED-9 protein does not directly inhibit the caspase CED-3, in vitro nor in yeast. Cell Death Differ. 11(12):1309-16 (2004).
Steel, R., Doherty, J.P., Buzzard, K.A., Clemons, N.J., Hawkins, C.J., Anderson, R.L. Hsp72 inhibits apoptosis upstream of the mitochondria and not through interactions with Apaf-1. J.Biol. Chem. 279(49):51490-9 (2004).
Jabbour A., Ekert, P.G., Coulson, E.J., Knight, M.J., Ashley, D.M. & Hawkins, C.J. The p35 relative, p49, inhibits mammalian and Drosophila caspases including DRONC and protects against apoptosis. Cell Death Differ. 9(12):1311-20 (2002).
Silke, J., Hawkins, C.J., Ekert, P.G., Chew, J., Day, C.L., Pakusch, M., Verhagen, A.M. & Vaux, D.L. The anti-apoptotic activity of XIAP is retained upon mutation of both the caspase 3- and caspase 9-interacting sites. J. Cell Biol. 157: 115-24 (2002).
Ekert, P. G., Silke, J., Hawkins, C.J., Verhagen, A.& Vaux, D.L. DIABLO promotes apoptosis by removing MIHA/XIAP from processed Caspase-9." J. Cell Biol. 152:483-490 (2001).
Silke J., Ekert P.G., Day, C.L., Hawkins, C.J., Baca M., Chew, J., Pakusch, M., Verhagen, A.M. & Vaux, D.L. Direct inhibition of caspase 3 is dispensable for the anti-apoptotic activity of XIAP. EMBO J., 20: 3114-3123 (2001).
Knight, M.J., Riffkin, C.D., Muscat, A.M., Ashley, D.M. & Hawkins, C.J. Analysis of FasL and TRAIL induced apoptosis pathways in glioma cells. Oncogene 20: 5789-5798 (2001).
Hawkins, C.J., Yoo, S.J., Petersen, E., Wang, S.L, Vernooy, S.Y, & Hay, B.A. The Drosophila caspase DRONC cleaves following glutamate or aspartate and is regulated by DIAP1, HID, and GRIM., J. Biol. Chem., 275: 27084-27093 (2000).
Hawkins, C.J., Wang, S.L., & Hay, B.A. A cloning method to identify caspases and their regulators in yeast: identification of Drosophila IAP1 as an inhibitor of the Drosophila caspase DCP-1., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., 96: 2885-2890 (1999).
Wang, S.L., Hawkins, C.J., Yoo, S.J., Muller, H.A., & Hay, B.A. The Drosophila caspase inhibitor DIAP1 is essential for cell survival and is negatively regulated by REAPER, HID and GRIM, which disrupt DIAP1-caspase interactions, Cell, 98: 453-463 (1999).
Hawkins, C. J., Uren, A. G., Hacker, G., Medcalf, R. L., & Vaux, D. L. Inhibition of interleukin 1-beta-converting enzyme-mediated apoptosis of mammalian cells by baculovirus IAP, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 93: 13786-13790 (1996).
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