| DNA DAMAGE AND REPAIR LABORATORY
RESEARCH INTERESTS Human beings are daily exposed to background radiation. My research has focused the last twelve years on the effects of ionizing radiation on DNA which is considered as the key target of radiation in the cell. Ionizing radiation can also induce closely spaced oxidative DNA lesions called 'clusters' of DNA damage or Locally Multiple Damage Sites (LMDS) as first introduced by John Ward. I am now interested in the repair mechanisms of clustered DNA damage which is considered as the most difficult for the cell to repair. A main part of my research is devoted on evaluating the role of clustered DNA damage in the promotion of breast cancer and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Currently in my laboratory I have two main ongoing projects: 1. Role of BRCA1 and DNA-PKcs in the processing of clustered DNA damage in human breast cancer. For this project we use the breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and HCC1937 (BRCA1 deficient). 2. Role of MSH2 the processing of clustered DNA damage in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. As our study model we use the NALM6 pre B-leukemia cells (MSH2 deficient). In addition, I am interested in the induction of clustered DNA damage by High LET radiations like alpha particles or space radiation. EDUCATION
1987-1992 : Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Physics with Honors, University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
1991-1992 : Diploma thesis with Honors: "The Effects of alpha-Irradiation on the DNA macromolecule"
1992-1993 : Post-Graduate Studies in molecular and cellular biology, Institute of Biology, NCSR "Demokritos"
1993-1998 : Ph.D in Biology with Honors: "Effects of alpha-Particles radiation on mammalian DNA".
PUBLICATIONS - Selected publications in the last four years: 1. A.G. Georgakilas, P. V. Bennett and B. M. Sutherland (2002) “High efficiency detection of bistranded abasic clusters in g-irradiated T7 DNA by putrescine”. Nucleic Acids Research, 30, 2800-2808. 2. Sutherland, B.M., Bennett, P.V., Georgakilas, A.G., and Sutherland, J.C. (2003) “Evaluation of Number Average length Analysis in Quantifying Double Strand Breaks in Genomic DNAs”. Biochemistry, 42, 3375-3384. 3. B.M. Sutherland, A.G. Georgakilas, P.V. Bennett, J. Laval and J.C. Sutherland (2003) “Quantifying Clustered DNA Damage Induction and Repair by Gel Electrophoresis, Electronic Imaging and Number Average Length Analysis”. Mutat. Res. (Review) 531, 93-107. 4. A.G. Georgakilas, P. V. Bennett and B. M. Sutherland (2004) “Processing of Bistranded Abasic DNA Clustered Damages in γ-Irradiated Human Hematopoietic Cells”. Nucleic Acids Res. 32, 5609-5620. 5. Gollapalle, E., Wong, R., Adetolu, R., Tsao, D., Francisco, D., Sigounas, G. and Georgakilas, A.G. (2007) “Detection of oxidative clustered DNA lesions in X-irradiated mouse skin tissues and human MCF-7 breast cancer cells”. Radiat. Res. 167, 207-216. 6. D. Tsao, P. Kalogerinis, I. Tabrizi, M. Dingfelder, R.D. Stewart and A.G. Georgakilas (2007) “Induction and processing of oxidative clustered DNA lesions and double strand breaks induced by high-LET 56Fe space radiation in human monocytes”. Radiat. Res. 168, 87-97. 7. Holt, S. M.; Georgakilas, A. G. Detection of complex DNA damage in γ-irradiated acute lymphoblastic leukemia pre-B NALM-6 cells. Radiat. Res. 168:527-534; 2007. 8. Lally, B. E.; Geiger, G. A.; Kridel, S.; Arcury-Quandt, A. E.; Robbins, M. E.; Kock, N. E.; Wheeler, K.; Peddi, P.; Georgakilas, A. G.; Kao, G. D.; Koumenis, C. Identification and biological evaluation of a novel and potent small molecule radiation sensitizer via an unbiased screen of a chemical library. Cancer Res. 67:8791-8799; 2007. 9. Francisco, D. C.; Peddi, P.; Hair, J. M.; Flood, B. A.; Cecil, A. M.; Kalogerinis, P. T.; Sigounas, G.; Georgakilas, A. G. Induction and processing of complex DNA damage in human breast cancer cells MCF-7 and non-malignant MCF-10A cells. Free Radic. Biol. Med. 44:558-569; 2008. 10. Georgakilas, A. G. Processing of DNA damage clusters in human cells: Current status of knowledge Mol. Biosyst. 4:30-35; 2008 (Review). 11. Poulos, J. E.; Georgakilas, A. G.; Kalogerinis, P. T.; Daignaut, T.; Lujan, G. A Patient with Granular Cell Tumor of the Colon. Practical Gastroenterology In press; 2008.
RELATIVE WEB SITES
Search for my publications relative to clustered DNA damage at PubMed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?CMD=search&DB=pubmed
COURSES TAUGHT
Genetics BIOL 2300 General Biology BIOL 1050 Radiation Biology RONC 7370 Molecular Genetics BIOL 5870 | 
