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Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry

 

Herchel Smith Professor of Medicinal Chemistry

Nucleic acids are fundamental to life. Our research is focused on the chemical biology of nucleic acids, and employs the principles of chemistry and the molecular sciences to address questions of importance in biology and medicine. Projects are inherently interdisciplinary and will provide scope for a diversity of intellectual and experimental approaches that include: organic synthesis, biophysics, molecular and cellular biology and genomics. Our scientific goals are problem-driven, which constantly raises the need to invent new methodology.

 

A major interest is to elucidate and manipulate mechanisms that control the expression of genes (either transcription, or translation). We are particularly interested in the role of non-canonical nucleic acid structures that control gene expression (e.g. G-quadruplexes, micro RNA and RNA structures in the 5' untranslated regions of mRNAs). Our goal is to design and synthesise small organic molecules that target such structures and alter the expression of certain genes of interest. Such small molecule gene regulators are valuable tools to study mechanisms in biology and will also open up new approaches for therapeutics and molecular medicine, particularly for diseases characterized by aberrant expression of certain genes (e.g. various cancers).

Our fundamental science will inevitably create opportunities for translation and commercialisation. One such example was our invention (with Professor David Klenerman) of new DNA sequencing technology ("Solexa sequencing") that was commercialised as a Cambridge University spinout company (now part of Illumina Inc.) and is used routinely for applications in genomics, including human genome sequencing. 

Hear Shankar Balasubramanian discuss some of the group's research.

Watch Professor Balasubramanian discuss his research

Take a tour of the Balasubramanian Lab

Publications

G-quadruplex structures within the 3′ UTR of LINE-1 elements stimulate retrotransposition
AB Sahakyan, P Murat, C Mayer, S Balasubramanian
– Nature Structural and Molecular Biology
(2017)
24,
243
DNA G-quadruplexes in the human genome: Detection, functions and therapeutic potential
R Hänsel-Hertsch, M Di Antonio, S Balasubramanian
– Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology
(2017)
18,
279
CX-5461 is a DNA G-quadruplex stabilizer with selective lethality in BRCA1/2 deficient tumours
H Xu, M Di Antonio, S McKinney, V Mathew, B Ho, NJ O'Neil, ND Santos, J Silvester, V Wei, J Garcia, F Kabeer, D Lai, P Soriano, J Banáth, DS Chiu, D Yap, DD Le, FB Ye, A Zhang, K Thu, J Soong, S-C Lin, AHC Tsai, T Osako, T Algara, DN Saunders, J Wong, J Xian, MB Bally, JD Brenton, GW Brown, SP Shah, D Cescon, TW Mak, C Caldas, PC Stirling, P Hieter, S Balasubramanian, S Aparicio
– Nature communications
(2017)
8,
14432
2'-$\textit{0}$-Methyl-5-hydroxymethylcytidine: A Second Oxidative Derivative of 5-Methylcytidine in RNA
SM Huber, P van Delft, A Tanpure, EA Miska, S Balasubramanian
– J Am Chem Soc
(2017)
139,
1766
Gender Differences in Global but Not Targeted Demethylation in iPSC Reprogramming
I Milagre, TM Stubbs, MR King, J Spindel, F Santos, F Krueger, M Bachman, A Segonds-Pichon, S Balasubramanian, SR Andrews, W Dean, W Reik
– Cell Rep
(2017)
18,
1079
Genome-wide mapping of 5-hydroxymethyluracil in the eukaryote parasite Leishmania
F Kawasaki, D Beraldi, RE Hardisty, GR McInroy, P van Delft, S Balasubramanian
– Genome Biology
(2017)
18,
23
Single genome retrieval of context-dependent variability in mutation rates for human germline
AB Sahakyan, S Balasubramanian
– BMC genomics
(2017)
18,
81
Synthesis and biophysical analysis of modified thymine-containing DNA oligonucleotides
F Kawasaki, P Murat, Z Li, T Santner, S Balasubramanian
– Chem Commun (Camb)
(2017)
53,
1389
COMPARISON OF MATCHED GLIOBLASTOMA TUMOR AND MARGIN SAMPLES USING SINGLE BASE RESOLUTION MAPS REVEALS ACQUIRED, EARLY EPIGENETIC CHANGES THAT PREDISPOSE TO MUTATIONS DURING TUMOURIGENESIS
E-A Raiber, D Beraldi, SM Cuesta, G McInroy, Z Kingsbury, J Becq, T James, M Lopes, K Allinson, S Field, S Humphray, T Santarius, C Watts, D Bentley, S Balasubramanian
– NEURO-ONCOLOGY
(2017)
19,
102
Base resolution maps reveal the importance of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in a human glioblastoma
EA Raiber, D Beraldi, S Martinez Cuesta, GR McInroy, Z Kingsbury, J Becq, T James, M Lopes, K Allinson, S Field, S Humphray, T Santarius, C Watts, D Bentley, S Balasubramanian
– NPJ genomic medicine
(2017)
2,
6
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Research Group

Research Interest Group

Telephone number

01223 336347

Email address

sb10031@cam.ac.uk