Home| Lecturer |
Contact details:
| Tel: | +44 20 7882 2293 |
| Fax: | +44 20 7882 2180 |
| Email: | c.b.magoulas@qmul.ac.uk |
| Address: | Centre for Neuroscience and Trauma, |
Biography
Babis Magoulas was awarded a PhD degree from Ottawa University, Canada , in Molecular Biology in 1992. He did a five year post-doctoral training at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, where he became a Marie Curie Fellow, working in the field of Functional Genomics. Then he joined the National Institute for Medical Research as a senior post-doctoral fellow where he was trained in transgenic approaches used in studies on the physiology of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis. He was appointed in his current post, Lecturer in Neuroscience, at Queen Mary, University of London , in 2000.
Research Activity
My current work is aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in neuronal repair, with a focus on : i) the importance of inflammation-responsive transcription factors in axonal regeneration and ii) the neuronal signaling pathways responsive to axonal outgrowth that target nucleolar proteins.
i) The axons of peripheral neurons, unlike those of central nervous system neurons, regenerate successfully after nerve injuries. The expression of specific genes underlies peripheral axonal regeneration reflecting the involvement of regulatory transcription factors. We are investigating key transcription factors which are known to respond to inflammation, such as the NFkB and C/EBP families. An essential part of this work is the application of transgenic approaches to the study of neuronal repair in vivo. The identification of the molecular factors involved in axonal regeneration can help us devise strategies for applications to injuries of the central nervous system.
ii) We investigate the hypothesis that certain nucleolar proteins are targets of cellular signaling pathways in response to neuronal functions which require an increase in protein synthesis, i.e. axonal outgrowth. The nucleolus, the site of ribosomal biogenesis, is an integral component in the regulation of protein synthesis. Certain nucleolar proteins participate in the regulation of ribosomal biogenesis during protein synthesis. My aim is the characterization of such nucleolar proteins as 'molecular sensors' of neuronal signals which respond to axonal outgrowth. The identification of these signaling pathways may provide us with novel targets for neuronal repair.
Key Publications
• Polzikov, M., C. Magoulas and O. Zatsepina. "The nucleolar protein SURF-6 is essential for viability in mouse NIH/3T3 cells". Mol.Biol.Rep . 34: 155-60. (2007).
• Wu, D., Y. Zhang, X. Bo, W. Huang, F. Xiao, X. Zhang, T. Miao, C. Magoulas , M.C. Subang, P.M. Richardson. "Actions of Neuropoietic Cytokines and cyclic AMP in Regenerative Conditioning of Rat Primary Sensory Neurons". Exp. Neurol. 204: 66-76. (2007).
• Polzikov, M., O. Zatsepina and C. Magoulas. "Identification of an evolutionary conserved SURF-6 domain in a family of nucleolar proteins extending from human to yeast". Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 327: 143-9. (2005).
• Magoulas, C. , L. McGuinness, N. Balthasar, D. F. Carmignac, A. K.Sesay, K. E. Mathers, H. Christian, L. Candeil, X. Bonnefont, P. Mollard., and I.C.A.F. Robinson. " A secreted fluorescent reporter targeted to pituitary growth hormone cells in transgenic mice". Endocrinology . 141: 4681-9. (2000).
• Magoulas, C. , O. V. Zatsepina, P. W. H. Jordan, E. G. Jordan and M. Fried. "The SURF-6 protein is a component of the nucleolar matrix and has a high binding capacity for nucleic acids in vitro ". Eur.J.Cell Biol. 75: 174-183. (1998).
• Magoulas, C. and M. Fried. "The Surf-6 gene of the mouse Surfeit locus encodes a novel nucleolar protein". DNA and Cell Biol . 15: 305-316. (1996).
