Contact information
Research groups
Kirsty McHugh
Dr
Postdoctoral Scientist
Research
I completed my undergraduate degree in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry at the University of Oxford, before working in the Callaghan Cancer Research group at the John Radcliffe Hospital investigating the structural properties of the P-glycoprotein multi-drug transporter. I then completed my DPhil studies at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine in the Arthritis Research group headed by Paul Bowness, investigating the link between HLA-B27 and Spondyloarthritis, and continued this project as a post-doc at the Botnar Research Centre. The primary focus of this research was to characterise the expression of potentially pathogenic non-conventional forms of B27 in the context of a disease setting using novel B27-specific monoclonal antibodies.
At the Jenner institute, I am currently working on the development of novel therapeutic interventions for the treatment of haematological disorders - non-transfusion-dependent thalassemia (NTDT) and anaemia of inflammation - which involves generating recombinant proteins and monoclonal antibodies for subsequent characterisation and functional testing.
Recent publications
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Antibodies against the erythroferrone N-terminal domain prevent hepcidin suppression and ameliorate murine thalassemia
Journal article
Arezes J. et al, (2020), Blood, 135, 547 - 557
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Salmonella exploits HLA-B27 and host unfolded protein responses to promote intracellular replication
Journal article
Antoniou AN. et al, (2019), Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 78, 74 - 82
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Erythroferrone inhibits the induction of hepcidin by BMP6
Journal article
Arezes J. et al, (2018), Blood, 132, 1473 - 1477
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Hepcidin is regulated by promoter-associated histone acetylation and HDAC3
Journal article
Pasricha S-R. et al, (2017), Nature Communications, 8
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Polymorphisms in the F Pocket of HLA-B27 Subtypes Strongly Affect Assembly, Chaperone Interactions, and Heavy-Chain Misfolding
Journal article
Guiliano DB. et al, (2017), Arthritis & Rheumatology, 69, 610 - 621