Mark Eller
Mark Eller, PhD
Dermatology
609 Albany Street (J-building) room 502
617-638-5535
Education: PhD from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FLA
Research interest:
My recent work has focused on the biology of telomeres, long tracts of repetitive DNA that cap the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes. Telomeres shorten with successive rounds of DNA replication and when critically short they “appear” to the cell as damaged DNA and induce DNA damage responses similar to those from double strand breaks. These DNA damage responses include phosphorylation of the p53 tumor suppressor and histone H2AX, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in some cell types. These telomere-initiated responses are thought to be an evolutionary conserved anti-cancer mechanism, limiting the replicative lifespan of cells. We are studying the mechanisms by which critically short or otherwise “disrupted” telomeres induce these DNA damage responses and how these responses can be used to prevent the growth of cancer cells. Also, we are studying the roles of WRN, the protein mutated in the progeroid disease Werner syndrome, and the ATM/ATR kinase pathways in these responses and how these responses may facilitate telomere replication and restoration of the proper telomere structure.
Selected publications:
1. Atoyan R, Sharov AA, Eller MS, Sargsyan A, Botchkarev VA, Gilchrest BA. Oligonucleotide treatment increases eumelanogenesis, hair pigmentation and melanocortin-1 receptor expression in the hair follicle. Exp Dermatol 16: 671-677, 2007.
2. Ohashi N, Yaar M, Eller MS, Truzzi F, Gilchrest BA. Features that determine telomere homolog oligonucleotide-induced therapeutic DNA damage-like responses in cancer cells. J Cell Physiol 210: 582-595, 2007.
3. Yaar M, Eller MS, Panova I, Kubera J, Wee LH, Cowan KH, Gilchrest BA. Telomeric DNA induces apoptosis and senescence of human breast carcinoma cells. Breast Cancer Res 9: R13, 2007.
4. Eller MS, Liao XD, Liu SY, Hanna K, Backvall H, Opresko PL, Bohr VA, Gilchrest BA. A role for WRN in telomere-based DNA damage responses. PNAS 103: 15073-15078, 2006.
5. Li GZ, Eller MS, Hanna K, Gilchrest BA. Signaling pathway requirements for induction of senescence by telomere homolog oligonucleotides. Exp Cell Res 301: 189-200, 2004.
6. Puri N, Eller MS, Byers HR, Dykstra S, Kubera J, Gilchrest BA. Telomere homolog oligonucleotides: A novel approach to melanoma therapy. FASEB J 18: 1373-1381, 2004.
7. Li GZ, Eller MS, Firoozabadi R, Gilchrest BA. Evidence that exposure of the telomere 3′ overhang sequence induces senescence. Proc Natl Acad Sci 100: 527-531, 2003.
8. Eller MS, Puri N, Hadshiew IM, Venna SS, Gilchrest BA. Induction of apoptosis and a p95/NBS 1-mediated S-phase checkpoint by telomere 3¢ overhang specific DNA. FASEB J 17: 152-162, 2003.
9. Curiel-Lewandrowski C, Venna SS, Eller MS, Cruikshank W, Dougherty I, Cruz PD, Gilchrest BA. Inhibition of the elicitation phase of contact hypersensitivity by thymidine dinucleotides is in part mediated by increased expression of interleukin-10 in human keratinocytes. Exp Dermatol 12: 145-152, 2003
10. Khlgatian MK, Hadshiew IM, Asawanonda P, Yaar M, Eller MS, Fujita M, Norris DA, Gilchrest BA. Tryosinase gene expression is regulated by p53. J Invest Dermatol 118: 126-132, 2002.
11. Eller, MS, Puri, N, Hadshiew, IM, Venna, SS, Gilchrest, BA. Induction of apoptosis by telomere 3′ overhang-specific DNA. Exp Cell Res 276: 185-193, 2002.
