Christine A. Hrycyna

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Christine Hrycyna
Alma materMiddlebury College
University of California, Los Angeles
Known forMulti-drug resistance
Scientific career
InstitutionsNational Cancer Institute
Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research
Purdue University
WebsiteHrycyna Group Website

Christine A. Hrycyna is a Professor of Biochemistry at Purdue University. She studies multi-drug resistance in human cancer, which usually occurs due to over expression of the MDR1 gene.

Early life and education[edit]

Hrycyna studied at Middlebury College and graduated in 1988.[1][2][3] She was a graduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles, and earned her doctorate in 1993.[1][4] She worked in Steven Clarke's laboratory on protein modifications.[5] Hrycyna was a postdoctoral fellow at The Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research and the National Cancer Institute.[1]

Research and career[edit]

Hrycyna works at Purdue University, which she joined as an Assistant Professor in 2000.[1] Multidrug resistance cancer often arises due to over expression of an energy-dependent multi-drug efflux pump, the multi-drug transporter P-glycoprotein. Whilst it is understood that P-glycoproteins are important in the movement of pharmalogical agents, their mechanism as a drug efflux pump is unclear.[1] She looked at the mechanism of the efflux pump and how it functions in normal and cancerous cells.[6] P-glycoproteins can be recognised by several different substrates, but their affinity is reduced during a catalytic transfer state.[6][7] The MDR1 gene results in expression of a P-glycoprotein and related drug transporter MXR1, which are involved in mitoxantrone resistance. She found that amino acid 483, which is present in MXR/BCRP/ABCP gene, changes when the gene is over-expressed.[8] Unfortunately, cancers treated with a variety of anti-cancer drugs can develop resistance to other cytotoxic agents.[6]

Drug transporters like MXR1 and P-glycoprotein are part of the ATP-binding cassette transporter group. Hrycyna studies the cellular function of ABC-transporters and how they have impact human disease.[9] She has worked on new drugs for the treatment of HIV, which work by blocking the action of ZMPSTE24.[10] Hrycyna studies the post-translational modification of eukaryotic proteins, including the small G proteins.[9] Eukaryotic proteins undergo three modifications, including isoprenylation, proteolysis and methylesterification, and are synthesised with the C-terminal sequence Cys-Xaa-Xaa-Xaa.[9][11]

In 2011 Hrycyna wrote the book Protein Prenylation.[12]

Academic service[edit]

Hrycyna is the first female department head of the Purdue chemistry department, a position she has held since 2017.[13] She has been awarded the Purdue University Department of Chemistry Arthur E. Kelley Undergraduate Award for Excellence in Teaching three times. She has been involved with the curriculum review for the Department of Chemistry, recreating their chemistry sequence for life sciences majors.[14] In 2018 Hrycyna was named as one of the Purdue University 150th Anniversary Professors.[14]

Awards and honours[edit]

Her awards and honours include:

  • 2007 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award in Memory of Charles B. Murphy[15]
  • 2006 Teaching for Tomorrow Award[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Purdue Chemistry: Hrycyna Lab: Biography". www.chem.purdue.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  2. ^ "Byers Lab Students". Middlebury. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  3. ^ "1988". Middlebury. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  4. ^ "Jeff Byers Lab". Middlebury. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  5. ^ "Clarke stands out with seminal discoveries in protein methylation and inspired teaching". www.asbmb.org. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  6. ^ a b c Ambudkar, Suresh V.; Dey, Saibal; Hrycyna, Christine A.; Ramachandra, Muralidhara; Pastan, Ira; Gottesman, Michael M. (1999). "Biochemical, Cellular, and Pharmacological Aspects of the Multidrug Transporter". Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology. 39 (1): 361–398. doi:10.1146/annurev.pharmtox.39.1.361. PMID 10331089.
  7. ^ Ramachandra, Muralidhara; Ambudkar, Suresh V.; Chen, David; Hrycyna, Christine A.; Dey, Saibal; Gottesman, Michael M.; Pastan, Ira (1998-04-01). "Human P-Glycoprotein Exhibits Reduced Affinity for Substrates during a Catalytic Transition State". Biochemistry. 37 (14): 5010–5019. doi:10.1021/bi973045u. ISSN 0006-2960. PMID 9538020.
  8. ^ Bates, Susan E.; Dean, Michael; Litman, Thomas; Laar, Anne van de; Robey, Robert W.; Medina-Pérez, Wilma Y.; Yan, Qing-Wu; Hrycyna, Christine A.; Honjo, Yasumasa (2001-09-15). "Acquired Mutations in the MXR/BCRP/ABCP Gene Alter Substrate Specificity in MXR/BCRP/ABCP-overexpressing Cells". Cancer Research. 61 (18): 6635–6639. ISSN 0008-5472. PMID 11559526.
  9. ^ a b c "Purdue Chemistry: Hrycyna Lab: Research". www.chem.purdue.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  10. ^ "New clue for HIV drug side effects: study". Reuters. 2007-07-17. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  11. ^ Hrycyna, Christine. "Structure, Function and Conformational Dynamics of the Ste14p Methyltransferase". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. ^ The Enzymes. Boyer, Paul D.,, Krebs, Edwin G.,, Sigman, D. S.,, Tamanoi, Fuyuhiko,, Dalbey, Ross E.,, Hackney, David D. (3rd ed.). New York: Academic Press. 1970. ISBN 0121227014. OCLC 134449.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  13. ^ Scherer, Steve. "Professor Hrycyna named Head of Chemistry".
  14. ^ a b Today, Purdue. "Christine Hrycyna named 150th Anniversary Professor". www.purdue.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
  15. ^ "Charles B. Murphy Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award - Office of the Provost - Purdue University". www.purdue.edu. Retrieved 2019-04-04.