Department of Pathology

Dalhousie University

Graham Dellaire

Dalhousie Distinguished Research Professor

GrahamDellaire

Curriculum Vitae 2022
(PDF - 666 kb)

Department of Pathology , Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Email: dellaire@dal.ca
Phone: 902-494-4730
Fax: 902-494-2519
Mailing Address: 
Dalhousie University
Sir Charles Tupper Medical Building, 11-G1
5850 College Street
PO Box 15000
Halifax Nova Scotia Canada B3H 4R2
 
Research Topics:
  • Role of nuclear structure in cancer biology
  • Genome stabilty and DNA repair
  • Mechanism of chemotherapy resistance in breast, lung, ovarian, and pancreatic cancer
  • Precision theraputics and cancer genomics with a focus on DNA repair mechanisms
  • Evolutionary molecular biology of innate immunity and DNA repair
  • CRISPR-based gene editing and ethics of gene therapy
  • Live-cell and super-resolution imaging of fundamental cell biology

Biography

Dr. Graham Dellaire's expertise spans multiple disciplines including molecular and cellular biology, cancer biology, DNA repair, advanced light and electron microscopy and CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing.

Dr. Dellaire's research combines advanced microscopy, gene-editing and evolutionary molecular biology approaches to determine fundamental cellular mechanisms of cancer development and targets for precision therapy. His research includes mechanisms of drug resistance and anti-tumour immune responses that impact patient treatment in breast, ovarian, lung and pancreatic cancer.

A professor of pathology and a Department of Pathology member since 2007, Dr. Dellaire is the department's Director of Research, a guest editor of the journal Current Gene Therapy, co-editor of the books "The Functional Nucleus" and "Cancer Genomics: from Bench to Personalized Medicine", and is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the journal Chromosome Research.

Education

  • Ph.D. (Hons): Experimental Medicine, McGill University
  • B.Sc. (Hon): Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia

Selected Publications

  1. Foster, J., M. McPhee, L. Yue, G. Dellaire, S. Pelech, and N.D. Ridgway (2024). Lipid and phospho-regulation of CTP:Phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase-a association with nuclear lipid droplets. Molecular Biology of the Cell 35(3):ar33  [Article]
  2. Aoki, M.M., A.B. Kisiala, S. Mathavarajah, A. Schincagalia, J. Treverton, E. Habib, G. Dellaire, R.J.N. Emery, C.R. Brunetti, and R. Huber (2024). From biosynthesis and beyond – Loss or overexpression of the cytokinin synthesis gene, iptA, alters cytokinesis and mitochondrial and amino acid metabolism in Dictyostelium discoideum Faseb Journal 38:e23366  [Article]
  3. Mathavarajah, S., A.W. Thompson, M.R. Stoyek, T.A. Quinn, S. Roy, I. Braasch, and G. Dellaire (2024). Suppressors of cGAS-STING are downregulated during fin-limb regeneration and aging in aquatic vertebrates J. Experimental Zoology (JEZ)-B Molecular and Developmental Evolution (in press) [Article]
  4. Mathavarajah, S., and G. Dellaire (2023). LINE-1: an emerging initiator of cGAS-STING signalling and inflammation that is dysregulated in disease. Biochemistry and Cell Biology (in press) [Article]
  5. Mathavarajah, S., K.L. Vergunst, S. Williams, R. He, M. Maliougina, E.B. Habib, M. Park, J. Salsman, S. Roy, I. Braasch, A. Roger, D.N. Langelaan, and G. Dellaire (2023). “PML and PML-like exonucleases restrict retrotransposons in jawed vertebrates” Nucleic Acids Research 51(7): 3150–3165 [Article]
  6. Dorighello, G., M. McPhee, K. Halliday, G. Dellaire, and N. Ridgway (2023). "Differential contributions of phosphotransferases CEPT1 and CHPT1 to phosphatidylcholine homeostasis and lipid droplet biogenesis." Journal of Biological Chemistry 299(4):104578 [Article]
  7. Kratzer, K.,  L.J. Getz, T. Pettrini, J-Y. Masson, G. Dellaire (2022). Addressing the dark matter of gene therapy: technical and ethical barriers to clinical application. Human Genetics 141(6):1175-1193 [Article]
  8. Mathavarajah, S., and G. Dellaire (2022). SARS-CoV-2 and wastewater: what does it mean for non-human primates?. Am. J. Primatol. 84(4-5):e23340.  [Article]
  9. Habib, EB, S. Mathavarajah, and G. Dellaire (2022). Tinker, Tailor, Tumour Suppressor: The many functions of PRP4K. New Frontiers in Genetics 13: 839963  [Article]
  10. Martinez-Pastor, B., GG. Silveira, TL. Clarke, D. Chung, Y.Gu, C. Cosentino, LS. Davidow, G. Mata, S. Hassanieh, J. Salsman, A. Ciccia, N. Bae, MT. Bedford, D. Megias, LL Rubin, A. Efeyan, G. Dellaire†, R. Mostoslavsky† (†Co-corresponding authors) (2021). Assessing kinetics and recruitment of DNA repair factors using high content screens" Cell Reports 37(13): 110176   [Article]
  11. Clarke, L.E, A. Cook, S. Mathavarajah, A. Bera, J. Salsman, E. Habib, C. Van Iderstine, M. Bydoun, S.M. Lewis, and G. Dellaire (2021). Haploinsufficient tumour suppressor PRP4K is negatively regulated during epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.  FASEB Journal 35(11): e22001  [Article]
  12. Mathavarajah, S., C. Van Iderstine, G. Dellaire, R.J. Huber (2021). Cancer and the breakdown of multicellularity: What Dictyostelium discoideum, a social amoeba, can teach us. Bioessays 43(4):e2000156. IF: 4.35   [Article]
  13. Mathavarajah, S., Amina K. Stoddart, Graham G. Gagnon, G. Dellaire (2020). Pandemic danger to the deep: the risk of marine mammals contracting SARS-CoV-2 from wastewater.  Science of the Total Environment (STOTEN) 15:760:143346. [Article] 
    Subject of a Podcast (SickBoy Podcast, Sept. 4, 2020), and news coverage in Fortune Magazine, Forbes, and The Scientist.
  14. Mathavarajah, S., and G. Dellaire (2020). Lions and Tigers and Kittens Too: ACE2 and susceptibility to COVID19.  Evolution Medicine and Public Health 2020(1):109-11 [Article]
    News coverage by CBC Halifax
  15. Lee J., J. Salsman, J. Foster, G. Dellaire†, N. Ridgway† (†Co-corresponding authors) (2020). Lipid-associated PML structures assemble nuclear lipid droplets containing CCTα and Lipin. Life Science Alliance 3(8):e202000751. [Article]
  16. Attwood, K.M., J. Salsman, D. Chung, S. Mathavarajah, and G. Dellaire (2020). PML isoform expression and DNA break location relative to PML nuclear bodies impacts the efficiency of homologous recombination. Biochemistry and Cell Biology 98(3):314-326 [Article] 
  17. *Chung, D., J. Salsman, and G. Dellaire (2019). Inhibition of neddylation induces mitotic defects and alters MKLP1 accumulation at the midbody during cytokinesis. Cell Cycle 18(10):1135-1153 *Journal Cover [Article] 
  18. Corkery, D., L. Clarke, S. Gebremeskel, J. Salsman, J. Pinder, C. Le Page, Z. Xu, Anne-Marie Mes-Masson, B. Johnston, J.N. Berman, and G. Dellaire (2018). Loss of PRP4K drives anoikis resistance in part by dysregulation of epidermal growth factor receptor endosomal trafficking. Oncogene 37(2):174-184 [Article] 
  19. Melong, N., S. Steele, M. MacDonald, A. Holly, C.C. Collins, A. Zoubeidi, J.N. Berman, and G. Dellaire (2017). Enzalutamide inhibits testosterone-induced growth of human prostate cancer xenografts in zebrafish and can induce bradycardia. Scientific Reports 7(1):14698  [Article]
  20. Salsman, J., LM Rapkin, NN Margam, R. Duncan, D.P. Bazett-Jones, G. Dellaire (2017). Myogenic differentiation triggers PML nuclear body loss and DAXX relocalization to chromocentres. Cell Death & Disease 8(3):e2724 [Article]
  21. Salsman, S., A. Stathakis, E. Parker, D. Chung, L. Anthes, K.L. Koskowich, S. Lahsaee, D. Gaston, K.R. Kukurba, K.S. Smith, I.C. Chute, D. Léger, L.D. Frost, S.B. Montgomery, S.M. Lewis, C. Eskiw, and G. Dellaire (2017). PML nuclear bodies contribute to the basal expression of the mTOR inhibitor DDIT4. Scientific Reports 7:45038 [Article]
  22. Pauty, J., A. Couturier,A. Rodrigue, M. Caron, Y. Coulombe. G. Dellaire and J.-Y. Masson (2017). Cancer-causing mutations in the tumour suppressor PALB2 reveals a novel cancer mechanism using hidden nuclear export signal in the WD40 repeat motif. Nucleic Acids Research 45(5):2644-2657 [Article]
  23. Lahsaee S, D.P. Corkery, L.E. Anthes, A. Holly, J. Salsman, and G. Dellaire (2016). Estrogen receptor alpha (ESR1)-signalling regulates the expression of the taxane-response biomarker PRP4K. Experimental Cell Research 340(1):125-31 [Article]
  24. Orthwein, A., S.M. Noordermeer, M.D. Wilson, S. Landry, R.I. Enchev, A. Sherker, M. Munro, J. Pinder, J. Salsman G. Dellaire, B. Xia, M. Peter, and D. Durocher. (2015). A mechanism for the suppression of homologous recombination in G1 cells. Nature 528(7582):422-6 [Article]
  25. Bentley, V., C. Veinotte, D. Corkery, J. Pinder, M.A. Leblanc, K. Bedard, A.P Weng, J.N. Berman, and G. Dellaire, (2015) Focused chemical genomics using zebrafish xenotransplantation as a preclinical therapeutic platform for T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia Haematologica 100(1):70-6 [PubMed] [Article]
  26. Sidik, S., J. Salsman, G. Dellaire, and J. Rohde, (2015) Shigella infection interferes with SUMOylation and increases PML-NB number PLoS ONE 10(4):e0122585 [PubMed] [Article]
  27. Kalousi, A., A-S. Hoffbeck, P. Selemenakis, J. Pinder, K.I. Savage, K.K. Khanna, L. Brino, G. Dellaire, V.G. Gorgoulis, and E. Soutoglou , (2015) The nuclear oncogene SET controls DNA repair by KAP1 and HP1 retention on chromatin Cell Reports 11(1):149-63 [PubMed][Article]
  28. Corkery, D.P., L. Meunier , C. Le Page , D.M. Provencher , A-M Mes-Masson and G. Dellaire, (2015) PRP4K is a novel Her2-regulated biomarker of taxane sensitivity Cell Cycle14(7):1059-69 [PubMed] [Article]
  29. El-Naggar, A.M., C.J Veinotte, H. Cheng, T.G.P. Grunewald, G. Luca Negri, S. Prakash Somasekharan, D.P. Corkery, F. Tirode, J. Mathers, D. Khan, A.H Kyle, J.H Baker, N.E. LePard, S.McKinney, S.Hajee, M. Bosiljcic, G. Leprivier, C.E. Tognon, A.I. Minchinton, K.L. Bennewith, O.Delattre, Y. Wang, G. Dellaire, J.N. Berman, and P.H. Sorensen., (2015) Tranlsational activation of HIF1a by YB-1 promotes sarcoma metastasis Cancer Cell27(5):682-97 [PubMed] [Article]
  30. Corkery, D., A. Holly, S. Lahsaee, and G. Dellaire, (2015) Connecting the Speckles: Splicing kinases and their role in tumorigenesis and treatment response Nucleus 6(4):279-88 [PubMed] [Article]
  31. Chung, D., and G. Dellaire. , (2015) The role of the COP9 signalosome and neddylation in DNA damage signaling and repair Biomolecules in press:
  32. Pinder, J., J. Salsman, and G. Dellaire, (2015) Nuclear domain “knock-in” screen for the evaluation and identification of small molecule enhancers of CRISPR-based genome editing Nucleic Acids Research (in press): [Article]
  33. Stairs CW, Eme L, Brown MW, Mutsaers C, Susko E, Dellaire G, Soanes DM, van der Giezen M, Roger AJ., (2014) A SUF Fe-S Cluster Biogenesis System in the Mitochondrion-Related Organelles of the Anaerobic Protist Pygsuia Curr. Biol 24(11):1176-1186 [PubMed][Article]
  34. Liu, Y., A. Asnani, L. Zou, V.L. Bentley, M. Yu, Y.Wang, G.Dellaire, K.S. Sarkar, M. Dai, H.H. Chen, D.E. Sosnovik, J.T. Shin, D.A. Haber, J.N. Berman, W. Chao, and R.T. Peterson , (2014) Visnagin protects against doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy through modulation of mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase Science Translational Medicine6(266):266ra170 [PubMed] [Article]
  35. Lemaître, C., A. Grabarz, K.Tsouroula, L. Andronov, A. Furst, T. Pankotai, V.Heyer, M. Rogier, K.M. Attwood, P. Kessler, G. Dellaire, B. Reina-San-Martin, and E. Soutoglou , (2014) Nuclear position dictates DNA repair pathway choice Genes & Development28(22):2450-63 [PubMed] [Article]
  36. Klement, K., M.S. Luijsterburg, J. Pinder, C.S. Cena, V. Del Nero1, C.M. Wintersinger, G. Dellaire, H. van Attikum, A.A. Goodarzi, (2014) Opposing ISWI- and CHD-class chromatin remodeling activities orchestrate heterochromatic DNA repair Journal of Cell Biology207(6):717-733 [PubMed] [Article]
  37. Smithen DA, Forrester AM, Corkery DP, Dellaire G, Colpitts J, McFarland SA, Berman JN, Thompson A., (2013) Investigations regarding the utility of prodigiosenes to treat leukemia. Org. Biomol. Chem. 11(1):62-8 [PubMed]
  38. Langelaan, D.N., Reddy, T., Banks, A.W., Dellaire, G., Dupré, D. and Rainey, J.K, (2013) Structural features of the apelin receptor N-terminal tail and first transmembrane segment implicated in ligand binding and receptor trafficking. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Biomembranes In press:
  39. Pinder JB, Attwood KM, Dellaire G., (2013) Reading, writing, and repair: the role of ubiquitin and the ubiquitin-like proteins in DNA damage signaling and repair. Front Genet.4:45 [PubMed]
  40. Andrin C, McDonald D, Attwood KM, Rodrigue A, Ghosh S, Mirzayans R, Masson JY,Dellaire G, Hendzel MJ., (2012) A requirement for polymerized actin in DNA double-strand break repair. Nucleus 3(4):384-95 [PubMed]
  41. Salsman J, Jagannathan M, Paladino P, Chan PK, Dellaire G, Raught B, Frappier L., (2012) Proteomic profiling of the human cytomegalovirus UL35 gene products reveals a role for UL35 in the DNA repair response. J. Virol. 86(2):806-20. [PubMed]
  42. Konantz M, Balci TB, Hartwig UF, Dellaire G, André MC, Berman JN, Lengerke C., (2012) Zebrafish xenografts as a tool for in vivo studies on human cancer. Ann N Y Acad Sci.1266:124-37 [PubMed]
  43. Kepkay, R., Attwood, K.M., Ziv, Y., Shiloh, Y., Dellaire G., (2011) KAP1 depletion increases PML nuclear body number in concert with ultrastructural changes in chromatin. Cell Cycle10(2):308-222 [PubMed]
  44. Cann KL, Dellaire G., (2011) Heterochromatin and the DNA damage response: the need to relax Biochem Cell Biol. 89(1):45-60 [PubMed]
  45. Corkery DP, *Dellaire G, *Berman JN., (2011) Leukaemia xenotransplantation in zebrafish--chemotherapy response assay in vivo. *Co-corresponding authors Brit. J. Haematol. 153(6):786-9 [PubMed]
  46. Bauer DC, Willadsen K, Buske FA, Lê Cao KA, Bailey TL, Dellaire G, Bodén M., (2011) Sorting the nuclear proteome. Bioinformatics 27(13):i7-14. [PubMed]
  47. Dellaire, G., Kepkay, R., Bazett-Jones, D.P., (2009) High resolution imaging of changes in the structure and spatial organization of chromatin, gamma-H2A.X and the MRN complex within etoposide-induced DNA repair foci. Cell Cycle 8(22):3750-3769 [PubMed]
  48. Dellaire, G. and D.P. Bazett-Jones, (2007) Beyond Repair Foci: Subnuclear Domains and the Cellular Response to DNA Damage Cell Cycle. 6(15):1864-1872 [PubMed]
  49. Dellaire, G., R. Ching, K. Ahmed, K. Tse, F. Jalali, R.G. Bristow, and D.P. Bazett-Jones, (2006) PML nuclear bodies are DNA damage sensors whose response to DNA double-strand breaks is regulated by NBS1, Chk2 and ATR J. Cell Biol. 175(1):55-66 [PubMed]
  50. Dellaire, G., R. Ching, H. Dehghani, Y. Ren and D.P. Bazett-Jones, (2006) PML nuclear bodies increase in number in early S-phase by a fission mechanism J. Cell Sci. 119(6):1026-1033 [PubMed]
  51. Dellaire, G., C. Eskiw, H. Dehghani, R. Ching, and D.P. Bazett-Jones, (2006) Mitotic Accumulations of PML protein (MAPPs) contribute to the post-mitotic re-establishment of PML nuclear bodies. J. Cell Sci. 119(6):1034-1042 [PubMed]
  52. Kruhlak, M.J., A. Celeste, G. Dellaire, O. Fernández-Capetillo,W.G. Müller, J.G. McNally, D.P. Bazett-Jones, and A. Nussenzweig, (2006) Changes in chromatin structure and mobility in living cells at sites of DNA double-strand breaks J. Cell Biol. 172(6):823-834[PubMed]

Awards

2023 - 2028 Distinguished Research Professor
Dalhousie University
2021 Faculty of Medicine Award for Excellence in Research Mentorship of Faculty
2013 Janigan Teaching Award
Department of Pathology, Dalhousie University
2009 - 2014 CIHR New Investigator Award

Links