Unlocking the Secrets of the Nucleus:

Dr. Graham Dellaire maps nuclear neighbourhoods and their role in cancer

The nucleus contains critical genetic information, but as Dr. Graham Dellaire explains, it is not simply a ‘bag of DNA.’ “The nucleus turns out to be highly compartmentalized. Different regions have different functions, and so do the pathways and structures that connect these ‘nuclear neighbourhoods,’” he says. “Structures known as PML nuclear bodies play a major role in such cancer-related processes as DNA repair, cell death and tumour suppression.”

Among his many pursuits as Dalhousie Medical School’s first ‘Cameron Research Scientist,’ Dr. Dellaire is studying how PML nuclear bodies in living cancer cells respond to chemotherapy and radiation. “Their response will tell us if treatment is working, within 24 hours… instead of weeks,” he says. “Through use of such biomarkers, a patient’s treatment could be quickly adjusted to improve survival and avoid the unnecessary suffering and expense of ineffective treatments.”

Many of Dr. Dellaire’s experiments rely on the new gamma irradiator, purchased with the proceeds of the 2005 Molly Appeal for Cancer Research. “It’s a key facility for me,” he says. “It’s the most effective and clinically relevant way to damage DNA for the study of cancer development.” He also brings expertise to Dalhousie Medical School in the emerging field of ‘correlative light and electron microscopy’, which allows scientists to study nuclear structures, including DNA and PML bodies, at unparalleled detail within the cell.

Dr. Dellaire joined the Department of Pathology as assistant professor in early 2007, from The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. In addition to the Cameron Research Scientist award, funded through the Dr. Owen and Mrs. Pearle Cameron Endowment for Cancer Research, he holds a prestigious CIHR Senior Fellowship award. He has also applied for three patents for methods he has developed to study nuclear structure and function, and biomarkers for cancer.