Staff Profile

I hold both a BSc (Hons) and a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Portsmouth, in addition to a PGCE Science (Chemistry) from the University of Sunderland.

My practical expertise is in the field of DNA Restriction-Modification, notably structural and functional enzyme characterisation, and my area of research interest is the specific role(s) and enzymology of methylation in gene expression control, the nature and dynamics of epigenetic modifications, and the biochemistry of associated signalling pathways.

I am fundamentally interested in:

• the spatio-temporal relationship(s) between cellular signalling and chromatin modifications, methylation-related chromatin remodelling, chromatin dynamics, post-DNA replication nucleosome assembly (and that associated with the DDR), and the involvement of epigenetic processes through the developmental and somatic cell cycle, including the integration and silencing of transposable elements.

• epigenetic mechanisms of gene regulation in bacteria (particularly where influenced by quorum sensing), DNA methylation patterns, and the involvement of epigenetic processes through the prokaryotic cell cycle.

My PhD - entitled “Studies of the integrated functions of the phage T4-encoded Stp peptide” - investigated the disruptive effect of a small 26 amino acid bacteriophage peptide on the type I DNA Restriction-Modification system EcoR124 from Escherichia coli (ultimately proposing a model for its mode of action wherein Stp effects antirestriction activity by interfering with assembly of the holoenzyme through sequestering the DNA restriction subunit, HsdR).

Since obtaining my PhD I have been conducting an independent programme of theoretical research pertaining to cellular communication, chromatin dynamics, signal transduction, gene regulation, cell cycle orchestration, and mechanisms of development.

My independent research interests derive from the latter stages of my PhD studies, as analyses of the DNA methylation component of the multifunctional, multisubunit EcoR124II enzyme complex provided a basis from which I began to explore the wider scope of DNA methylation phenomena, in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and in particular the relationship between DNA methylation and histone methylation (and subsequent associated histone modifications). I became increasingly interested by the regulatory processes establishing and maintaining methylation patterns, and the processes effected by these methylation patterns.

I also have a strong interest in the epigenetic reprogramming associated with host-pathogen interactions, and the effects on active and inactive host gene networks in relation to bacterial infection input stimuli.

I have held a series of lectureships in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Biology, in the FE and HE sectors, and in 2021 I made a return to hands-on laboratory practice, working in molecular diagnostics as a Healthcare Science Associate at the ICHNE Lighthouse Laboratory, NHS England, quantifying and genotyping SARS-CoV-2 from clinical samples via qPCR.

In my current role I am able to draw on my background in both research and education to support the research activities of staff and students within the SAgE faculty.

• Article

  • Lisle W, Dutta CF, Penner M, Amitsur M, Kaufmann G, Firman K. Phage T4-encoded Stp alleviates the DNA restriction activity of EcoR124I endonuclease by affecting a critical step in the subunit assembly pathway. Molecular Biology Today 2000, 1, 57-64.