Dean Jackson
Dr Dean Jackson, Project co-ordinator, Faculty of Life Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M60 1QD, UK
Role in the project:
Dr Dean Jackson will act as the co-ordinator and manager of the project and will be the co-ordinator of WP1. He will also contribute to WP2 and WP3 by analysing the mechanisms by which epiosmal vectors interact with the active nuclear compartments in human cells.
Qualifications and experience for the project:
Dr Jackson was recently appointed as Senior Lecturer in molecular cell biology at University of Manchester. Prior to this appointment he worked for 23 years in a leading laboratory in Oxford. His work in Oxford lead to seminal publications in the following aspects of nuclear structure and function:
- first evidence for role of nuclear structure in gene expression
- developed system for analysis of nuclear function under physiologically meaningful conditions
- evidence for structural basis of nuclear organization - the nucleoskeleton
- devised approach that allowed first high-resolution analysis of transcription sites in mammalian cells
- described transcription and replication `factories'
- characterized replicon clusters as candidate fundamental units of chromosome structure
- detailed analysis of organization of RNA polymerase II in mammalian cells
The University of Manchester provides a stimulating academic environment and has an excellent range of facilities for molecular, cell and structural (including proteomic and bioinformatic) studies. State-of-the-art microscopy facilities and fluorescent cell sorting equipment are run at University of Manchester by Drs Jackson and Buckle.
Capacity to contribute to the project and links to other partners:
Specific skills and areas of research expertise relevant to EPI-vector include:
- analysis of nuclear distribution and compartmentalization of episomal vectors
- location and targeting of vectors to nuclear sites of transcription and replication
- analysis of dynamic properties of episomal vectors in living cells
- structure and function of replication origins in mammalian cells and dynamics of replication factories
Dr Jackson has ongoing collaborations and will continue to work closely with them. He will collaborate to perform a detailed analysis of episome dynamics in target cells. Information developed by these collaborations will be transeferred, through refinments in vector design the the other Partners of EPI-vector.
List of the principal scientific or technical personnel involved:
| Name and degree | Specific role in the project | Experience |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Dean Jackson, PhD | Co-ordinator and principle investigator | Analysis of nuclear structure and function. Molecular and cell biology in particular labelling active sites and analysis by microscopy |
| Dr Chi Tang, PhD | Project manager and analysis of nuclear structure and live cell imaging | Extensive experience in cell culture, cell imaging and molecular cell biology technologies |
| Ms Rachel Mattrom, BSc | Research manager, microscopy services | Expertise in microscopy and flow cytometry |
| Mr Rick Firth, MSc | PhD student, developing tool for dynamic analysis of episome vectors | Molecular cell biology, cell labelling and live cell imaging by confocal microscopy |
| Dr Kang Zeng, PhD, | Research technician, vector analysis and construction | Molecular biology technologies and mammalian cell culture and advanced microscopy |
Five relevant publications
- Jackson, D.A. and Pombo, A. (1998). Replicon clusters are stable units of chromosome structure: evidence that nuclear organization contributes to the efficient activation and propagation of S-phase in human cells. J. Cell Biol. 140, 1285-1295.
- Jackson, D.A., Iborra, F.J., Manders, E.M.M. and Cook, P.R. (1998). Numbers and organization of RNA polymerases, nascent transcripts and transcription units in HeLa nuclei. Mol. Biol. Cell 9, 1523-1536.
- Pombo, A., Jackson, D.A., Hollinshead, M., Wang, Z., Roeder, R.G., and Cook, P.R. (1999). Regional specialization in human nuclei: visualization of discrete sites of transcription by RNA polymerase III. EMBO J. 18, 2241-2253.
- Jackson, D.A. (2003). The anatomy of transcription sites. Current Opinion in Cell Biology. 15, 311-317.
- Henry-Mowatt, J., Jackson, D.A., (Joint first authors) Masson, J.-Y., Johnson, P.A., Clements, P.A., Benson, F.E., Thompson, L.H., Takeda, S., West, S.C. and Caldecott, K.W. (2003) XRCC3 and Rad51 Modulate Replication Fork Progression on Damaged Vertebrate Chromosomes. Molecular Cell 11, 1109-1117.
Contact information:
- address
- Dr. Dean A Jackson,
Faculty of Life Sciences,
University of Manchester,
Sackville Street,
Manchester,
M60 1QD, UK - dean.jackson@manchester.ac.uk