Dr Colin Stack

• Qualifications
• Biography
• Research
• Selected Publications
• Grants/Current projects
• Teaching Interests
• Awards/Honours
• Professional Activities  

Qualifications

BSc., PhD

^ Back to top

Biography

Dr. Colin Stack is a Senior Lecturer in The School of Biomedical and Health Sciences. Colin started his career as a Post Doctoral Fellow in 1999 in the School of Biotechnology at The Dublin City University and then at the University College Dublin in the Department of Microbiology.

Colin was a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Technology, Sydney from 2003 - 2005. In 2005 he moved to Sydney permanently when appointed as a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Biotechnology of Infectious Diseases (IBID), University of Technology, Sydney. In 2007 Colin joined the University of Western Sydney (UWS) as a Lecturer.

 ^ Back to top

Research

Dr. Colin Stack's research focus is on understanding the biology and biochemistry of parasitic organisms, more specifically the molecules involved in the interplay between parasites and their hosts. Colin's expertise is in the areas of heterologous protein expression and enzymatic characterisation of parasite proteases.
Current collaborators: Prof. John Dalton (McGill University, Canada), Dr. Sheila Donnelly (NUIM, Ireland), Dr. Mark Robinson (University of Technology Sydney), Dr. Don Gardiner, Dr. Katharine Trenholme & Dr. Tina Skinner-Adams (Malaria Biology Laboratory, Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Australia).

Selected Publications

Book Chapters 2005-2010:

Dalton, J.P., Caffrey, C.R., Sajid, M., Stack, C., Donnelly, S.M., Loukas, A., Don, T., McKerrow, J.H., Halton, D.W., & Brindley, P.J. (2006). Proteases in trematode biology. In: Protein Function, Metabolism and Physiology (Aaron Maule, Ed), CAB International, Wallingford, Oxon, UK

Refereed Journal Articles 2005-2010:

Donnelly, S.M., O'Neill, S.M., Stack, C.M., Robinson, M.W., Turnbull, L., Whitchurch, C., & Dalton, J.P. (2009). Helminth cysteine proteases inhibit TRIF-dependent activation of macrophages via degradation of TLR3. Journal of Biological Chemistry, Nov 18 [Epub ahead of print]

Gardiner, D.L., Skinner-Adams, T., Brown, C.L., Andrews, K.T., Stack, C.M., McCarthy, J.S., Dalton, J.P., & Trenholme, K.R. (2009). Plasmodium falciparum: new molecular targets with potential for antimalarial drug development. Expert Review of Anti-Infective Therapy, (9): 1087-1098

Skinner-Adams, T., Stack, C.M., Trenholme, K.R., Grembecka, J., Lowther, J., Mucha, A., Drag, M., Kafarski, P., McGowan, S., Whisstock, J.C., Gardiner, D.L., & Dalton, J.P. (2009).  Plasmodium falciparum neutral aminopeptidases: new targets for anti-malarials. Trends in Biochemical Sciences, Sept 29 (Epub ahead of print)

Maric, S., Donnelly, S.M., Robinson, M.W., Skinner-Adams, T., Trenholme, K.R., Gardiner, D.L., Dalton, J.P., Stack, C.M., & Lowther, J. (2009). The M17 leucine aminopeptidase of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum: Importance of active site metal ions in the binding of substrates and inhibitors. Biochemistry, 48 (23): 5435-5439.

McGowan, S., Porter, C.J., Lowther, J., Stack C.M., Golding, S., Skinner-Adams, T.S., Trenholme, K.R., Teuscher, F., Donnelly, S.M., Grembecka, J., Mucha, A., Kafarski, P., DeGori, R., Buckle, A., Gardiner, D.L., Whisstock, J., and Dalton, J.P. (2009). Structural basis for the inhibition of the essential Plasmodium falciparum M1 neutral aminopeptidase: a route for antimalarial compounds. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(8): 2537-2542

Lowther J., Robinson, M.W., Donnelly, S.M., Weibo, X., Stack, C.M., Mathews, J.M., and Dalton, J.P. (2009). The importance of pH in regulating the function of the Fasciola hepatica cathepsin L1 cysteine protease. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, (3): 1-11

Donnelly, S., Stack, C.M., O'Neill, S.M., Sayed, A.A., Williams, D.L., and Dalton, J.P. (2008). Helminth 2-Cys peroxiredoxin drives Th2 responses through a mechanism involving alternatively activated macrophages. FASEB Journal, (11): 4022-4032

Robinson, M.W., Tort, J.F., Lowther, J., Donnelly, S.M., Wong, E., Xu, W., Stack, C.M., Padula, M., Herbert, B., and Dalton, J.P. (2008). Proteomic and phylogenetic analysis of the cathepsin L protease family of the helminth pathogen, Fasciola hepatica: expansion of a repertoire of virulence-associated factors. Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, (6): 1111-1123

Stack, C.M., Caffrey, C.R., Donnelly, S.M., Sehaadri, A., Lowther, J.,  Tort, J.F., Collins, P.R., Robinson, M.W., Weibo, X., McKerrow, J.H., Geiger, S.R., Marion, R., Brinen, L.S., and Dalton, J.P. (2008). Structural and functional relationships in the virulence associated cathepsin L proteases of the parasitic liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica. Journal of Biological Chemistry, (15): 9896-9908

Skinner-Adams, T.S., Lowther, J., Teuscher, F., Stack, C.M., Grembecka, J., Mucha, A., Kafarski, P., Trenholme, K.R., Dalton, J.P., and Gardiner, D.L. (2007). Identification of phosphinate dipeptide analog inhibitors directed against the Plasmodium falciparum M17 aminopeptidase as lead anti-malarial compounds. Journal of Medicinal chemistry, (24): 6024-6031

Teuscher, F., Lowther, J., Skinner-Adams, T.S., Speilmann, T., Dixon, M.W.A., Stack, C.M., Donnelly, S., Mucha, A., Kafarski, P., Vassiliou, S., Gardiner, D.L., Dalton, J.P., and Trenholme, K.R. (2007). The M18 Aspartyl aminopeptidase of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Journal of Biological Chemistry, (42): 30817-30826

Kanaji, S., Tanaka, Y., Sakata, Y., Takeshita, K., Arima, K., Ohta, S., Hansell, E.J., Caffrey, C., Mottram, J.C., Lowther, J., Donnelly, S., Stack, C.M., Kadowaki, T., Yamamoto, K., Mckerrow, J.H., Dalton, J.P., Coombs, G.H. and Izuhara, K. (2007). Squamous Cell Carcinoma Antigen 1 Is an Inhibitor of parasite-Derived Cysteine Proteases. FEBS Letters, (22): 4260-4264

Stack, C.M., Donnelly, S.M., Lowther, J., Wu, D., Collins, P.R., Brinen, L.S., and Dalton, J.P. (2007). The Major Secreted Cathepsin L protease of the liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica: A LEU12 to PRO-12 replacement in the non-conserved C-terminal region of the prosegment prevents complete enzyme auto-activation and allows definition of the molecular events in prosegment removal. Journal of Biological Chemistry, (282):16532-16543

Dolecková, K., Kasný, M., Mikes, L., Mutapi, F., Stack, C.M., & Horák., P. (2007). Peptidases of Trichobilharzia regenti (Schistosomatidae) and its molluscan host Radix peregra s. lat. (Lymnaeidae): construction and screening of cDNA library from intramolluscan stages of the parasite. Folia Parasitologica, 94-98

Stack, C.M., Lowther, J., Cunningham, E., Donnelly, S., Gardiner, D.L., Trenholme, K.R., Skinner-Adams, T.S., Treuscher, F., Grembecka, J., Mucha, A., Kafarski, P., Lua, L., Bell, A., & Dalton, J.P. (2007). Characterisation of the Plasmodium falciparum M17 leucyl aminopeptidase: A protease involved in amino acid regulation with potential for antimalarial drug development. Journal of Biological Chemistry, (3): 2069-2080

Sekiya, M., Mulcahy, G., Irwin, J.A., Stack, C.M., Donnelly, S.M., Xu, W., Collins, P., and Dalton, J.P. (2006). Biochemical characterisation of the recombinant peroxiredoxin (FhePrx) of the liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica. FEBS Letters, (21): 5016-5022

Gardiner, D.L., Trenholme, K.R., Skinner-Adams, T.S., Stack, C.M., & Dalton J.P. (2006). Over-expression of leucyl aminopeptidase in Plasmodium falciparum parasites: Target for the anti-malarial activity of bestatin. Journal of Biological Chemistry, (3): 1741-1750

Stack, C.M., Dalton, J.P., Cunneen, M., & Donnelly, S. (2005). De-glycosylation of Pichia pastoris-produced Schistosoma mansoni cathepsin B eliminates non-specific reactivity with IgG in normal human serum. Journal of Immunological Methods, (1-2): 151-170  

Grants/Current projects

• UWS ARC near miss funding (2009) - The molecular evolution of collagenolytic activity: adaptive changes within the active site of the cathepsin L protease family of Fasciola hepatica
• UWS Research Grants Scheme (2008) - How to dismantle a malaria parasite, Prolyl aminopeptidase: A target for anti-malarial drugs
• ARC Discovery Grant (2005-2008, Dalton, Brinen, Stack) - Functional and structural diversity of the cathepsin L peptidases from the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni
• Enterprise Ireland Basic Research Grant (2003-2005 Dalton, Bell, Stack) - RNAi-mediated gene silencing, functional expression and biochemical analysis of the aminopeptidases expressed by the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum

Teaching Interests

• Cell Biology (Unit coordinator and lecturer)
• Medical Microbiology (Campus coordinator and lecturer)
• Analytical Protein Science (lecturer)
• Biomolecular Frontiers (lecturer)

Professional Activities

Member of the ARC/NHMRC Network for Parasitology