Overview
I have a considerable track record in cancer research, with a particular interest in the molecular biology of how the disease progresses. My research focusses on how prostate cancer cells respond to testosterone, and how they can circumvent this pathway.
Biography
Cardiff China Medical Research Collaborative
- Studying microRNA and androgen signalling in prostate cancer.
- Studying novel antiandrogens for prostate cancer treatment.
I am a senior research fellow and group leader at the Cardiff China Medical Research Collaborative. My current research focusses upon prostate cancer and the role of androgen signalling. Currently I am studying how androgen receptor cofactors and corepressors influence androgen action and contribute to androgen independence in late stage prostate cancer. Using bioluminescent models and cell lines, I also collaborate with the Cardiff University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, to evaluate novel anti-androgen drug compounds.
A second avenue of research includes the study of microRNAs in the development of prostate cancer and in the transition from normal to malignant and invasive tissue. Of additional interest is the possibility of using microRNAs as both potential therapies in their own right, and as potential biomarkers of prostate cancer disease and progression, especially for clinical decision making to differentiate those with, potentially, aggressive disease.
Honours and awards
CRUK Cardiff Centre development fund award for the project: “Evaluating novel antiandrogens for Prostate Cancer Treatment”.2015-2016
Professional memberships
Member of the British Association of Cancer Research (BACR).
Academic positions
Cardiff China Medical Research Collaborative
- Studying microRNA and androgen signalling in prostate cancer.
- Studying novel antiandrogens for prostate cancer treatment.
Imperial College London (UK), Department of Cancer
- November 2004-2013: MRC funded Postdoc in the laboratory of Dr Charlotte Bevan: I developed unique animal models to visualise the activity of the androgen receptor in the living mouse.
- Prostate Cancer Charity funded position: The study and development of novel microRNA-antagonists to inhibit the activity of androgen receptor in prostate cancer and to enhance the activity of current clinically used prostate cancer therapies.
University of Oxford, Department of Biochemistry
- January 2001-November 2004: I identified and highlighted key mechanisms in the detection of single-stranded DNA in cells damaged by ionising radiation, with relevance to radiotherapy of solid tumours.
Speaking engagements
CCUK Conference Cardiff, 2015. Invited speaker.
CCUK Conference, Beijing, 2014. Invited speaker.
University of Bedford, 2014. Invited speaker.
Publications
2024
- Dart, D. A., Bevan, C. L., Uysal-Onganer, P. and Jiang, W. G. 2024. Analysis of androgen receptor expression and activity in the mouse brain. Scientific Reports 14(1), article number: 11115. (10.1038/s41598-024-61733-9)
2021
- Lanning, B., Webber, J., Uysal-Ongane, P., Jiang, W. G., Clayton, A. and Dart, D. A. 2021. Prostate cancer cell extracellular vesicles increase mineralisation of bone osteoblast precursor cells in an in vitro model. Biology 10(4), article number: 318. (10.3390/biology10040318)
2020
- Dart, D. A., Ashelford, K. and Jiang, W. G. 2020. AR mRNA Stability is increased with AR-antagonist resistance via 3' UTR variants. Endocrine Connections 9(1), pp. 9-19. (10.1530/EC-19-0340)
2019
- Kandil, S., Lee, K. Y., Davies, L., Rizzo, S. A., Dart, D. A. and Westwell, A. D. 2019. Discovery of deshydroxy bicalutamide derivatives as androgen receptor antagonists. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 167, pp. 49-60. (10.1016/j.ejmech.2019.01.054)
- Dart, D. 2019. Wnt-11 Expression promotes invasiveness and correlates with survival in human pancreatic ductal adeno carcinoma. Genes 10, pp. 921. (10.3390/genes10110921)
2018
- Dart, D. A., Kandil, S., Tommasini-Ghelfi, S., Almeida, G. S. d., Bevan, C. L., Jiang, W. G. and Westwell, A. D. 2018. Novel trifluoromethylated enobosarm analogues with potent antiandrogenic activity in vitro and tissue selectivity in vivo. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 17(9), pp. 1846-1858. (10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-18-0037)
- Xie, M. et al. 2018. MicroRNA-1 acts as a tumor suppressor microRNA by inhibiting angiogenesis-related growth factors in human gastric cancer. Gastric Cancer 21(1), pp. 41-54. (10.1007/s10120-017-0721-x)
2017
- Dart, A. D., Uysal-Onganer, P. and Jiang, W. G. 2017. Prostate-specific PTen deletion in mice activates inflammatory microRNA expression pathways in the epithelium early in hyperplasia development. Oncogenesis 6(12), article number: 400. (10.1038/s41389-017-0007-5)
- Hu, T., Su, F., Jiang, W. G. and Dart, D. A. 2017. Overexpression of activin receptor-like kinase 7 in breast cancer cells is associated with decreased cell growth and adhesion.. Anticancer Research 37, pp. 3441-3451. (10.21873/anticanres.11712)
- Koushyar, S., Economides, G., Zaat, S., Jiang, W., Bevan, C. L. and Dart, A. 2017. The prohibitin-repressive interaction with E2F1, is rapidly inhibited by androgen signalling in prostate cancer cells. Oncogenesis 6, pp. e3333. (10.1038/oncsis.2017.32)
2016
- Owen, S. et al. 2016. Heat shock protein 27 is a potential indicator for response to YangZheng XiaoJi and chemotherapy agents in cancer cells. International Journal of Oncology 49, pp. 1839-1847. (10.3892/ijo.2016.3685)
- Xie, M., Dart, D. A., Owen, S., Wen, X., Ji, J. and Jiang, W. G. 2016. Insights into roles of the miR-1, -133 and -206 family in gastric cancer (Review). Oncology Reports 36(3), pp. 1191-1198. (10.3892/or.2016.4908)
- Dart, D. . A. and Bevan, C. L. 2016. In vivo imaging of nuclear receptor transcriptional activity. In: McEwan, I. J. ed. The Nuclear Receptor Superfamily., Vol. 1443. Methods in Molecular Biology New York, NY: Humana Press, pp. 203-217., (10.1007/978-1-4939-3724-0_13)
2015
- Koushyar, S., Jiang, W. G. and Dart, D. A. 2015. Unveiling the potential of prohibitin in cancer. Cancer Letters 369(2), pp. 316-322. (10.1016/j.canlet.2015.09.012)
- Owen, S., Martin, T. A., Dart, D. A., Ablin, R. J., Mason, M. D. and Jiang, W. G. 2015. The prostate Transglutaminase, TGase-4, is potentially linked to the junctional proteins at tight junctions of prostate tissues and prostate cancer cells [Abstract]. European Journal of Cancer 51(S3), pp. S481., article number: 2516. (10.1016/S0959-8049(15)30048-4)
- Owen, S., Dart, D. A., Cui, Y., Ablin, R., Mason, M. D. and Jiang, W. G. 2015. Potential interactions between Interleukin-20 and Transglutaminase 4 might affect prostate cancer cell function [Abstract]. European Journal of Cancer 51(S3), pp. S26-S27. (10.1016/S0959-8049(16)30088-0)
- Brooke, G. N. et al. 2015. Antiandrogens act as selective androgen receptor modulators at the proteome level in prostate cancer cells. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 14(5), pp. 1201-1216. (10.1074/mcp.M113.036764)
2014
- Fletcher, C. E., Dart, D. and Bevan, C. L. 2014. Interplay between steroid signalling and microRNAs: implications for hormone-dependent cancers. Endocrine-Related Cancer 21(5), pp. R409-R429. (10.1530/ERC-14-0208)
2013
- Dart, D. A., Waxman, J., Aboagye, E. O. and Bevan, C. L. 2013. Visualising androgen receptor activity in male and female mice. PLoS ONE 8(8), article number: e71694. (10.1371/journal.pone.0071694)
- Sita-Lumsden, A., Dart, D. A., Waxman, J. and Bevan, C. L. 2013. Circulating microRNAs as potential new biomarkers for prostate cancer. British Journal of Cancer 108(10), pp. 1925-1930. (10.1038/bjc.2013.192)
- Sita-Lumsden, A., Fletcher, C. E., Dart, D. A., Brooke, G. N., Waxman, J. and Bevan, C. L. 2013. Circulating nucleic acids as biomarkers of prostate cancer. Biomarkers in Medicine 7(6), pp. 867-877. (10.2217/bmm.13.104)
2012
- Dart, D. A., Brooke, G. N., Sita-Lumsden, A., Waxman, J. and Bevan, C. L. 2012. Reducing prohibitin increases histone acetylation, and promotes androgen independence in prostate tumours by increasing androgen receptor activation by adrenal androgens. Oncogene 31(43), pp. 4588-4598. (10.1038/onc.2011.591)
- Fletcher, C. E., Dart, D. A., Sita-Lumsden, A., Cheng, H., Rennie, P. S. and Bevan, C. L. 2012. Androgen-regulated processing of the oncomir MiR-27a, which targets Prohibitin in prostate cancer. Human Molecular Genetics 21(14), pp. 3112-3127. (10.1093/hmg/dds139)
2011
- Brooke, G. . N. et al. 2011. FUS/TLS is a novel mediator of androgen-dependent cell-cycle progression and prostate cancer growth. Cancer Research 71(3), pp. 914-924. (10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-10-0874)
2010
- Dart, D. A., Fletcher, C. L. and Bevan, C. 2010. Inhibiting androgen receptor activity in prostate cancer by cofactor manipulation [Abstract]. EJC Supplements 8(5), pp. 32-33.
2009
- Dart, D. A., Spencer-Dene, B., Gamble, S. C., Waxman, J. and Bevan, C. L. 2009. Manipulating prohibitin levels provides evidence for an in vivo role in androgen regulation of prostate tumours. Endocrine-Related Cancer 16(4), pp. 1157-1169. (10.1677/ERC-09-0028)
2007
- Gamble, S. C. et al. 2007. Prohibitin, a protein downregulated by androgens, represses androgen receptor activity. Oncogene 26(12), pp. 1757-1768. (10.1038/sj.onc.1209967)
2006
- Powell, S. M. et al. 2006. Mechanisms of androgen receptor repression in prostate cancer. Biochemical Society Transactions 34(6), pp. 1124-1127. (10.1042/BST0341124)
- Adams, K. E., Medhurst, A. L., Dart, D. A. and Lakin, N. D. 2006. Recruitment of ATR to sites of ionising radiation-induced DNA damage requires ATM and components of the MRN protein complex. Oncogene 25(28), pp. 3894-3904. (10.1038/sj.onc.1209426)
2004
- Dart, D. A., Adams, K. E., Akerman, I. and Lakin, N. D. 2004. Recruitment of the cell cycle checkpoint kinase ATR to chromatin during S-phase. Journal of Biological Chemistry 279(16), pp. 16433-16440. (10.1074/jbc.M314212200)
- Dart, D. A., Picksley, S. M., Cooper, P. A., Double, J. A. and Bibby, M. C. 2004. The role of p53 in the chemotherapeutic responses to cisplatin, doxorubicin and 5-fluorouracil treatment. International Journal of Oncology 24(1), pp. 115-125.
2001
- Picksley, S. M., Dart, D. A., Mansoor, M. and Loadman, P. 2001. Current advances in the inhibition of the auto-regulatory interaction between the p53 tumour suppressor protein and MDM2 protein. Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Patents 11(12), pp. 1825-1835.
