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About

Dr Alisa Glukhova is a laboratory head in the Structural Biology division at WEHI and a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology at the University of Melbourne. She earned her PhD in Chemical Biology in 2014 from the University of Michigan, where she worked on solving structures of lipid-modifying enzymes using x-ray crystallography. During her postdoctoral training at Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, she used x-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, and pharmacology techniques to study different G protein-coupled receptors.

Since joining WEHI in 2020, Alisa has focused on understanding the structural and biochemical aspects of the Wnt signalling pathway, an important pharmacological target for treating many cancers. Using structural biology, her team captures snapshots of different stages in the Wnt signalling cascade to understand the atomic picture and gain insights into various aspects of signal transmission through Wnt pathways. Key areas of interest include Wnt acylation by acyl-transferase Porcupine, Wnt secretion and transport outside cells, and the initiation of the Wnt signalling cascade through Wnt interactions with its receptors, Frizzled, and co-receptors. Alisa ultimately hopes to use this atomic-level information to develop better therapies for devastating human conditions, such as cancer.

Publications

Selected publications from Dr Alisa Glukhova

1. Mobbs JI#, Black KA#, Tran M, Venugopal H, Holman TR, Holinstat M, Thal DM*, Glukhova A*. Cryo-EM structures of human arachidonate 12S-Lipoxygenase (12-LOX) bound to endogenous and exogenous inhibitors. bioRxiv:2023.03.10.532002 (2023) #Equal contribution

2. Gan ZY, Callegari S, Cobbold SA, Cotton TR, Mlodzianoski MJ, Schubert AF, Geoghegan ND, Rogers KL, Leis A, Dewson G, Glukhova A, Komander D. Activation mechanism of PINK1. Nature 2022, 602(7896):328-35 PMID: 34933320

3. Pymm P#, Adair A#, Chan LJ, Cooney JP, Mordant FL, Allison CC, Lopez E, Haycroft ER, O’Neill MT, Tan LL, Dietrich MH, Drew D, Doerflinger M, Dengler MA, Scott NE, Wheatley AK, Gherardin NA, Venugopal H, Cromer D, Davenport MP, Pickering R, Godfrey DI, Purcell DFJ, Kent SJ, Chung AW, Subbarao K, Pellegrini M, Glukhova A, Tham WH. Nanobody cocktails potently neutralize SARS-CoV-2 D614G N501Y variant and protect mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021, 118(19) PMID: 33893175 #Equal contribution

4. Draper-Joyce CJ, Bhola R, Wang J, Bhattarai A, Nguyen ATN, Cowie-Kent I, O’Sullivan K, Chia LY, Venugopal H, Valant C, Thal DM, Wootten D, Panel N, Carlsson J, Christie MJ, White PJ, Scammells P, May LT, Sexton PM, Danev R, Miao Y, Glukhova A*, Imlach WL*, Christopoulos A.* Positive allosteric mechanisms of adenosine A1 receptor-mediated analgesia. Nature 2021, 597(7877):571-6 PMID: 34497422

5.Draper-Joyce CDJ#, Khoshouei M#, Thal DM, Liang YL, Nguyen ATN, Furness SGB, Venugopall H, Baltos J, Plitzko JM, Danev R, Baumeister W, May LT, Wootten D, Sexton PM*, Glukhova A*, Christopoulos A*. Cryo-EM structure of the human adenosine A1 receptor-Gi2-protein complex bound to its endogenous agonist. Nature 2018 Jun;558(7711):559-56 PMID: 29925945 #Equal contribution

6. Liang YL#, Khoshouei M#, Glukhova A#, Zhao P, Clydesdale L, Koole C, Truong TT, Furness SGB, Thal DM, Lei S, Radjainia M, Danev R, Baumeister W, Wang MW, Miller LJ, Christopoulos A, Sexton PM*, Wootten D*. Phase-plate Cryo-EM structure of a biased agonist-bound human GLP-1 receptor-Gs complex. Nature 2018 Mar 1;555(7694):121-125 PMID: 29466332 #Equal contribution

7. Glukhova A#, Thal DM#, Nguyen AT, Vecchio EA, Jörg M, Scammells PJ, May LT, Sexton PM*, Christopoulos A*. Structure of the Adenosine A1 Receptor Reveals the Basis for Subtype Selectivity. Cell, 2017 168(5):867–877 PMID: 28235198 #Equal contribution

Lab research projects

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