Newcastle University

Research Interests

The main area of research is Bioinorganic Chemistry with particular emphasis on metalloproteins. The current focus is copper-containing proteins and we use a multi-disciplinary approach to study the relationship between their structure and function. Areas of expertise incorporate biological NMR, including the study of paramagnetic proteins with this technique, and also biological electron-transfer reactions.

• Badarau A, Dennison C. The thermodynamics of copper and zinc distribution in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2011, 108(32), 13007-13012.
• Badarau A, Dennison C. Copper trafficking mechanism of CXXC-containing domains: Insight from the pH-dependence of their Cu(I) afffinities. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2011, 133(9), 2983-2988.
• El Ghazouani A, Basle A, Firbank SJ, Knapp CW, Gray J, Graham DW, Dennison C. Copper-Binding Properties and Structures of Methanobactins from Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b. Inorganic Chemistry 2011, 50(4), 1378-1391.
• Goldsmith RH, Tabares LC, Kostrz D, Dennison C, Aartsma TJ, Canters GW, Moerner WE. Redox cycling and kinetic analysis of single molecules of solution-phase nitrite reductase. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2011, 108(42), 17269-17274.
• Li C, Sato K, Monari S, Salard I, Sola M, Banfield MJ, Dennison C. Metal-Binding Loop Length Is a Determinant of the pK(a) of a Histidine Ligand at a Type 1 Copper Site. Inorganic Chemistry 2011, 50(2), 482-488.
• Chi-Fru E, Gray ND, McCann C, Baptista JDC, Christgen B, Talbot HM, El-Ghazouani A, Dennison C, Graham DW. Effects of copper mineralogy and methanobactin on cell growth and sMMO activity in Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b. Biogeosciences 2011, 8, 2887-2894.
• Badarau A, Firbank SJ, McCarthy AA, Banfield MJ, Dennison C. Visualizing the Metal-Binding Versatility of Copper Trafficking Sites. Biochemistry 2010, 49(36), 7798-7810.
• Monari S, Battistuzzi G, Dennison C, Borsari M, Ranieri A, Siwek MJ, Sola M. Factors Affecting the Electron Transfer Properties of an Immobilized Cupredoxin. Journal of Physical Chemistry C 2010, 114(50), 22322-22329.
• Battistuzzi G, Borsari M, Dennison C, Li C, Ranieri A, Sola M, Yanagisawa S. Active site loop dictates the thermodynamics of reduction and ligand protonation in cupredoxins. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta: Proteins and Proteomics 2009, 1794(7), 995-1000.
• Macedo S, Pechlaner M, Schmid W, Weik M, Sato K, Dennison C, Djinovic-Carugo K. Can soaked-in scavengers protect metalloprotein active sites from reduction during data collection?. Journal of Synchrotron Radiation 2009, 16(2), 191-204.
• Sato K, Li C, Salard I, Thompson AJ, Banfield MJ, Dennison C. Metal-binding loop length and not sequence dictates structure. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2009, 106(14), 5616-5621.
• Sato K, Firbank SJ, Li C, Banfield MJ, Dennison C. The importance of the long type 1 copper-binding loop of nitrite reductase for structure and function. Chemistry: A European Journal 2008, 14(19), 5820-5828.
• Tottey S, Waldron KJ, Firbank SJ, Reale B, Bessant C, Sato K, Cheek TR, Gray J, Banfield MJ, Dennison C, Robinson NJ. Protein-folding location can regulate manganese-binding versus copper- or zinc-binding. Nature 2008, 455(7216), 1138-1142.
• Crowley PB, Matias PM, Mi H, Firbank SJ, Banfield MJ, Dennison C. Regulation of protein function: Crystal packing interfaces and conformational dimerization. Biochemistry 2008, 47(25), 6583-6589.
• Dennison C. The role of ligand-containing loops at copper sites in proteins. Natural Product Reports 2008, 25(1), 15-24.
• Guzzi R, Sportelli L, Sato K, Cannistraro S, Dennison C. Thermal unfolding studies of a phytocyanin. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta: Proteins and Proteomics 2008, 1784(12), 1997-2003.
• Battistuzzi G, Bellei M, Dennison C, Di Rocco G, Sato K, Sola M, Yanagisawa S. Thermodynamics of the alkaline transition in phytocyanins. Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry 2007, 12(6), 895-900.
• Velarde M, Huber R, Yanagisawa S, Dennison C, Messerschmidt A. Influence of loop shortening on the metal binding site of cupredoxin pseudoazurin. Biochemistry 2007, 46(35), 9981-9991.
• Banci L, Bertini I, Cantini F, Ciofi-Baffoni S, Cavet JS, Dennison C, Graham AI, Harvie DR, Robinson NJ. NMR structural analysis of cadmium sensing by winged helix repressor CmtR. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2007, 282(41), 30181-30188.
• Sato K, Dennison C. Effect of histidine 6 protonation on the active site structure and electron-transfer capabilities of pseudoazurin from Achromobacter cycloclastes. Biochemistry 2002, 41(1), 120-130.
• Dennison C, Sato K. Paramagnetic 1H NMR spectrum of nickel(II) pseudoazurin: Investigation of the active site structure and the acid and alkaline transitions. Inorganic Chemistry 2002, 41(25), 6662-6672.
• Sato K, Nagatomo S, Dennison C, Niizeki T, Kitagawa T, Kohzuma T. UV resonance Raman and NMR spectroscopic studies on the pH dependent metal ion release from pseudoazurin. Inorganica Chimica Acta 2002, 339, 383-392.
• Hunter DM, McFarlane W, Sykes AG, Dennison C. Effect of pH on the self-exchange reactivity of the plant plastocyanin from parsley. Inorganic Chemistry 2001, 40(2), 354-360.
• Dennison C, Lawler AT. Investigations of the alkaline and acid transitions of umecyanin, a stellacyanin from horseradish roots. Biochemistry 2001, 40(10), 3158-3166.
• Buning C, Canters GW, Comba P, Dennison C, Jeuken L, Melter M, Sanders-Loehr J. Loop-directed mutagenesis of the blue copper protein amicyanin from Paracoccus versutus and its effect on the structure and the activity of the type-1 copper site. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2000, 122(2), 204-211.
• Dennison C, Oda K, Kohzuma T. Paramagnetic NMR studies of copper-containing nitrite reductases. Chemical Communications 2000, (9), 751-752.
• Diederix REM, Canters GW, Dennison C. The Met99Gln mutant of amicyanin from Paracoccus versutus. Biochemistry 2000, 39(31), 9551-9560.
• Salgado J, Kalverda AP, Diederix REM, Canters GW, Moratal JM, Lawler AT, Dennison C. Paramagnetic NMR investigations of Co(II) and Ni(II) amicyanin. Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry 1999, 4(4), 457-467.
• Di Bilio AJ, Dennison C, Gray HB, Ramirez BE, Sykes AG, Winkler JR. Electron transfer in ruthenium-modified plastocyanin. Journal of the American Chemical Society 1998, 120(30), 7551-7556.
• Yanagisawa S, Crowley PB, Firbank SJ, Lawler AT, Hunter DM, McFarlane W, Li C, Kohzuma T, Banfield MJ, Dennison C. pi-interaction tuning of the active site properties of metalloproteins. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2008, 130(46), 15420-15428.
• Badarau A, Firbank SJ, Waldron KJ, Yanagisawa S, Robinson NJ, Banfield MJ, Dennison C. FutA2 is a ferric binding protein from Synechocystis PCC 6803. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2008, 283(18), 12520-12527.
• Li C, Banfield MJ, Dennison C. Engineering copper sites in proteins: Loops confer native structures and properties to chimeric cupredoxins. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2007, 129(3), 709-718.
• Li C, Yanagisawa S, Martins BM, Messerschmidt A, Banfield MJ, Dennison C. Basic requirements for a metal-binding site in a protein: The influence of loop shortening on the cupredoxin azurin. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2006, 103(19), 7258-7263.
• Sato K, Crowley PB, Dennison C. Transient protein interactions between cytochrome f and the phytocyanin umecyanin. ChemBioChem 2007, 8(7), 732-735.
• Sato K, Dennison C. Active site comparison of Co^II blue and green nitrite reductases. Chemistry - A European Journal 2006, 12(25), 6647-6659.
• Waldron KJ, Tottey S, Yanagisawa S, Dennison C, Robinson NJ. A periplasmic iron-binding protein contributes toward inward copper supply. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2007, 282(6), 3837-3846.
• Yanagisawa S, Banfield MJ, Dennison C. The role of hydrogen bonding at the active site of a cupredoxin: The Phe114Pro azurin variant. Biochemistry 2006, 45(29), 8812-8822.
• Delfino I, Manzoni C, Sato K, Dennison C, Cerullo G, Cannistraro S. Ultrafast pump-probe study of excited-state charge-transfer dynamics in umecyanin from horseradish root. Journal of Physical Chemistry B 2006, 110(34), 17252-17259.
• Angeletti B, Waldron KJ, Freeman KB, Bawagan H, Hussain I, Miller CCJ, Lau K-F, Tennan ME, Dennison C, Robinson NJ, Dingwall C. BACE1 cytoplasmic domain interacts with the copper chaperone for superoxide dismutase-1 and binds copper. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2005, 280(18), 17930-17937.
• Koch M, Velarde M, Harrison MD, Echt S, Fischer M, Messerschmidt A, Dennison C. Crystal structures of oxidized and reduced stellacyanin from horseradish roots. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2005, 127(1), 158-166.
• Harrison MD, Yanagisawa S, Dennison C. Investigating the cause of the alkaline transition of phytocyanins. Biochemistry 2005, 44(8), 3056-3064.
• Dennison C. Investigating the structure and function of cupredoxins. Coordination Chemistry Reviews 2005, 249(24), 3025-3054.
• Dennison C. Ligand and loop variations at type 1 copper sites: Influence on structure and reactivity. Dalton Transactions 2005, (21), 3436-3442.
• Delfino I, Sato K, Harrison MD, Andolfi L, Bizzarri AR, Dennison C, Cannistraro S. Optical spectroscopic investigation of the alkaline transition in umecyanin from horseradish root. Biochemistry 2005, 44(49), 16090-16097.
• Yanagisawa S, Dennison C. Reduction potential tuning at a type 1 copper site does not compromise electron transfer reactivity. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2005, 127(47), 16453-16459.
• Sato K, Crowley PB, Dennison C. Transient homodimer interactions studied using the electron self-exchange reaction. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2005, 280(19), 19281-19288.
• Crowley PB, Hunter DM, Sato K, McFarlane W, Dennison C. The parsley plastocyanin-turnip cytochrome f complex: A structurally distorted but kinetically functional acidic patch. Biochemical Journal 2004, 378(1), 45-51.
• Harrison MD, Dennison C. An axial met ligand at a type 1 copper site is preferable for fast electron transfer. ChemBioChem 2004, 5(11), 1579-1581.
• Harrison MD, Dennison C. Characterization of Arabidopsis thaliana Stellacyanin: A Comparison with Umecyanin. Proteins: Structure, Function and Genetics 2004, 55(2), 426-435.
• Yanagisawa S, Dennison C. Loop-contraction mutagenesis of type 1 copper sites. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2004, 126(48), 15711-15719.
• Sato K, Kohzuma T, Dennison C. Pseudospecificity of the Acidic Patch of Plastocyanin for the Interaction with Cytochrome f. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2004, 126(10), 3028-3029.
• Dennison C, Harrison MD. The Active-Site Structure of Umecyanin, the Stellacyanin from Horseradish Roots. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2004, 126(8), 2481-2489.
• Dennison C, Sato K. Paramagnetic 1H NMR Spectrum of the Cobalt(II) Derivative of Spinach Plastocyanin. Inorganic Chemistry 2004, 43(4), 1502-1510.
• Sato K, Kohzuma T, Dennison C. Active-site structure and electron-transfer reactivity of plastocyanins. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2003, 125(8), 2101-2112.
• Yanagisawa S, Sato K, Kikuchi M, Kohzuma T, Dennison C. Introduction of a π-π interaction at the active site of a cupredoxin: Characterization of the met16Phe pseudoazurin mutant. Biochemistry 2003, 42(22), 6853-6862.
• Yanagisawa S, Dennison C. Loop-contraction mutagenesis of a type 1 copper site. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2003, 125(17), 4974-4975.
• Dennison C, Harrison MD, Lawler AT. Alkaline transition of phytocyanins: A comparison of stellacyanin and umecyanin. Biochemical Journal 2003, 371(2), 377-383.
• Dennison C, Lawler ATP, Kohzuma T. Unusual Properties of Plastocyanin from the Fern Dryopteris crassirhizoma. Biochemistry 2002, 41(2), 552-560.
• Kolczak U, Dennison C, Messerschmidt A, Canters GW. Azurin and Azurin Mutants. In: Messerschmidt, A., Huber, R., Poulos, T., Wieghardt, K, ed. Handbook of Metalloproteins. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, 2001, pp.1170-1194.
• Diederix REM, Canters GW, Dennison C. Characterisation of the Met99Gln Variant of Amicyanin. Biochemistry 2000, 39(31), 9551-9560.
• Dennison C, Kohzuma T. Alkaline Transition of Pseudoazurin from Achromobacter cycloclastes Studied by Paramagnetic NMR and Its Effect on Electron Transfer. Inorganic Chemistry 1999, 38(7), 1491-1497.
• Allen S, Badarau A, Dennison C. Cu(I) Affinities of the Domain 1 and 3 Sites in the Human Metallochaperone for Cu,Zn-Superoxide Dismutase. Biochemistry 2012, 51(7), 1439–1448.
• Monari S, Battistuzzi G, Bortolotti CA, Yanagisawa S, Sato K, Li C, Salard I, Kostrz D, Borsari M, Ranieri A, Dennison C, Sola M. Understanding the Mechanism of Short-Range Electron Transfer Using an Immobilized Cupredoxin. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2012, 134(29), 11848-11851.
• El Ghazouani A, Basle A, Gray J, Graham DW, Firbank SJ, Dennison C. Variations in methanobactin structure influences copper utilization by methane-oxidizing bacteria. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2012, 109(22), 8400-8404.
• Kohzuma T, Niizeki T, Sato K, Dennison C, Nagatomo S, Kitagawa T. Metal ion release mechanism of the blue copper protein pseudoazurin. In: 10th International Conference on Bioinorganic Chemistry. 2001, Florence, Italy: Elsevier Inc.