Newcastle University

Qualifications

1999 PhD Animal Physiology
1993 MSc Animal Genetics

Previous Positions

2002-2007 Research Associate, University of Newcastle

2007-2011 Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow 

Memberships

Research Interests

DNA replication,
genome stability,

protein-protein interactions 
Cell cycle,
Embryonic development

Current Work

My research focuses on mechanisms that control DNA replication during embryonic development. I use vertebrate (Xenopus laevis) and invertebrate (sea urchin) embryos as experimental models. Early embryonic cells of frogs or sea urchin divide but do not grow and automatically commit to DNA replication directly on exit from the previous cell division and are not influenced by external growth signals. They are transcriptionally quiescent, relying on maternally stored mRNAs and proteins for their activity. This changes when cells reach so called Mid-Blastula Transition (MBT) when maternal controls end and embryonic transcriptional control is initiated. The length of cell division cycle increases with gap phases between DNA replication and mitosis that are characteristic of the types of cells (somatic cells) found in adult tissues. This change in development is a crucial point and coincides with differentiation and cell fate decisions that determine adult pattern.
I am interested in the role of proteins that regulate initiation of DNA replication and maintain genome stability during embryonic development. In particular I study the function of the pre-Replicative complex (pre-RC) that is assembled onto chromosomal DNA prior to S-phase of the cell cycle. This protein complex plays a key role in determining the length of S-phase; it participates in cytokinesis, checkpoint activation and transcriptional control. My research aims to determine how the roles of individual proteins of the pre-RC change during transition from early fast uncontrolled cleavages to more somatic-like cell cycles in embryonic development.

Current positions:

We are always looking for potential postdocs and we are very open for researchers who would like to apply or already were awarded with fellowships and wish to work in my lab.

Funding

Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship
Royal Society Research Grant
Peter Baker Travel Fellowship, MBA Plymouth
BBSRC PhD Studentship grant
Wellcome Trust studentship for Amy Richards

• Kisielewska J, Blow JJ. Dynamic Interactions of high Cdt1 and geminin levels regulate S-phase in early Xenopus embryos. Development 2012, 139, 63-74.
• Kisielewska J, Whitaker M. Regulation of DNA synthesis at the first cell cycle in the sea urchin in vivo. In: Methods in Molecular Biology. Humana Press, Inc, 2012. In Press.
• Ziecik AJ, Wasowicz G, Derecka K, Kisielewska J. Extragonadal gonadotropin receptors in pigs –1996 update. Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology 1996, 47 suppl.1, 29-39.
• Kisielewska J, Philipova R, Huang JY, Whitaker M. MAP kinase dependent cyclinE/cdk2 activity promotes DNA replication in early sea urchin embryos. Developmental Biology 2009, 334(2), 383-394.
• Bothwell JHF, Kisielewska J, Genner MJ, McAinsh MR, Brownlee C. Ca2+ signals coordinate zygotic polarization and cell cycle progression in the brown alga Fucus serratus. Development 2008, 135(12), 2173-2181.
• Philipova R, Kisielewska J, Lu P, Larman M, Huang J-Y, Whitaker M. ERK1 activation is required for S-phase onset and cell cycle progression after fertilization in sea urchin embryos. Development 2005, 132(3), 579-589.
• Kisielewska J, Lu P, Whitaker M. GFP-PCNA as an S-phase marker in embryos during the first and subsequent cell cycles. Biology of the Cell 2005, 97(3), 221-229.
• Kisielewska J, Zezula-Szpyra A, Bilinska B, Flint AP, Ziecik AJ. Effect of estradiol and progesterone on growth of porcine myometrial smooth muscle cells and phospholipase C and adenylate cyclase signalling systems in vitro. Folia Histochemica et Cytobiologica 1997, 35(3), 143-149.
• Kisielewska J, Flint AP, Ziecik AJ. Phospholipase C and adenylate cyclase signalling systems in the action of hCG on porcine myometrial smooth muscle cells. Journal of Endocrinology 1996, 148(1), 175-180.
• Ziecik AJ, Golba G, Kisielewska J. Effect of human chorionic gonadotropin on uterine blood flow in intact and ovariectomized gilts. Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology and Diabetes 1996, 104(2), 158-163.
• Ziecik AJ, Ostrowska G, Kisielewska J, Zezula-Szpyra A. Distribution and cycle phase dependency of gonadotropin receptors in musculature and blood vessels of the porcine broad ligament. Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology and Diabetes 1995, 103(1), 44-51.
• Kisielewska J, Ziecik AJ. The effect of oxytocin on hCG action in phosphoinositide turnover in porcine myometrial smooth muscle cells. Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology 1995, 46(3), 329-339.