Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR)


http://www.waimr.uwa.edu.au

Dr Archa Fox

Archa Fox

Dr Archa Fox runs a research group investigating 'gene expression' - a fundamental process in which the information in genes is translated into proteins, the building blocks of the cell. The control of gene expression is essential to all cellular processes and many diseases such as cancer and metabolic disorders are associated with aberrant gene expression. Specifically, the Fox lab focuses on the role of nuclear organization and non-coding RNA in the control of gene expression in normal and cancer cells.

Archa completed her PhD under the direction of Professor Merlin Crossley at the University of Sydney, working on the interaction between two transcription factors, GATA-1 and FOG-1. Briefly, this work involved identifying the interaction interface between these two molecules, a finding that was subsequently critical for pinpointing the molecular basis of specific haematopoietic conditions.

For her post-doctoral studies, she moved to the University of Dundee, Scotland, to carry out research with Professor Angus Lamond, a world leader in the field of nuclear organisation. Here she was part of a project describing the human nucleolar proteome, the first large-scale proteomic analysis of a sub-nuclear organelle. Arising from this, she discovered a novel sub-nuclear structure, 'paraspeckles' that forms the basis of her current research.

In 2006 Archa joined WAIMR to set up her own lab, supported by an NH&MRC Howard Florey Fellowship. She is currently studying paraspeckles as a model system for exploring the ways in which the organisation of the cell nucleus directly affects the control of gene expression.

Qualifications

1996BSc (Hons, first class) - Molecular Genetics, University of New South Wales, Australia
2000PhD - Biochemistry, University of Sydney, Australia

Research Interests

  • The role of nuclear organization and non-coding RNA in the control of gene expression
  • Changes in nuclear organization associated with cancer and in development
  • Structure/function analysis of sub-nuclear bodies
  • Techniques: fluorescence microscopy, molecular biology, cell biology, proteomics

Scientific Involvement

  • Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology - Member 1996 to 1999.
  • British Biochemical Society - Member 1999 to 2006.
  • Lorne Genome Conferences Inc. - Member of the Scientific Advisory Panel for 2007 onwards.

Major Grants Awarded

1999-2001Wellcome Trust International Travelling Fellowship
2002-2006Caledonian Research Foundation Fellowship
2006-2008NHMRC Howard Florey Fellowship
2007-2009NHMRC Project Grant 'Identifying target molecules regulated by nuclear retention in cancer and development'
2007UWA Research grant 'Purification of subnuclear bodies'

Top 10 Publications

  1. Fox AH, Lam YW, Leung AKL, Lyon CE, Andersen JS, Mann M, Lamond AI. 2002. Paraspeckles: a novel nuclear domain. Current Biology 12:13-25. [IF 11.9]
  2. Andersen JS, Lyon CE, Fox AH, Leung AKL, Lam YW, Steen H, Mann M, Lamond AI. 2002. Directed proteomic analysis of the human nucleolus. Current Biology 12:1-11. [IF 11.9]
  3. Fox AH, Liew C, Holmes M, Kowalski K, Mackay J, Crossley M. 1999. Transcriptional cofactors of the FOG-family interact with GATA-proteins by means of multiple zinc fingers. EMBO J. 18:2812-22. [IF 10.45]
  4. Fox AH, Bond CS, Lamond AI. 2005. P54nrb forms a heterodimer with PSP1 that localises to paraspeckles in a RNA-dependent manner. Molecular Biology of the Cell 11:5304-15. [IF 7.45]
  5. Fox AH, Kowalski K, King GF, Mackay JP, Crossley M. 1998. Key residues characteristic of GATA N- fingers are recognized by FOG. J. Biol. Chem. 273:33595-603. [IF 3.0]
  6. Lam YW, Fox AH, Leung AKL, Andersen JS, Mann M, Lamond AI. 2004. "Proteomics of the nucleolus" in The Nucleolus. Ed. Mark Olson. New York, Klewer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 302-328.
  7. Fox AH, Lamond AI. 2002. Nuclear Processes controlled by molecular machines. Genome Biology 3(6):REPORTS4016.
  8. Mackay JP, Kowalski K, Fox AH, King GF, Crossley M. 1998. Involvement of the N-finger in the self-association of GATA-1. J. Biol. Chem. 273:30560-67. [IF 3.0]
  9. Matthews JM, Kowalski K, Liew CK, Sharpe BK, Fox AH, Crossley M, MacKay JP. 2000. A class of zinc fingers involved in protein-protein interactions: biophysical characterization of CCHC fingers from fog and U-shaped. Eur J Biochem. 267:1030-8. [IF 6.4]
  10. Liew CK, Kowalski K, Fox AH, Newton A, Sharpe BK, Crossley M, Mackay JP. 2000. Solution structures of two CCHC zinc fingers from the FOG family protein U-shaped that mediate protein-protein interactions. Structure Fold Des. 8:1157-66. [IF 6.0]