Dr. Joanna Mcgouran
Associate Professor, Chemistry
Biography
Joanna obtained a 1st class MChem Degree from the University of Oxford. Following this she completed her D.Phil. entitled "Probing sugar-plant-soil signaling" at the University of Oxford with Professor Ben Davis. Joanna then worked as a postdoctoral researcher with Professor Benedikt Kessler in the Department of Medicine, where she created novel ubiquitin-based covalent capture probes and developed inhibitor screening assays. She returned to chemistry department at the University of Oxford in 2014 to work with Professor Tom Brown where her research focused on the study of DNA cross-link repair enzymes, developing assays to study their selectivity and for inhibitor screening. In 2016, Joanna moved to Trinity College Dublin to take up the position of Schuler Assistant Professor in Translational Organic Chemistry.
Publications and Further Research Outputs
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Calvert, S.H. and Pawlak, T. and Hessman, G. and McGouran, J.F., Rapid diazotransfer for selective lysine labelling, Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, 2024
McKenna, S.M. and Florea, B.I. and Zisterer, D.M. and van Kasteren, S.I. and McGouran, J.F., Probing the metalloproteome: an 8-mercaptoquinoline motif enriches minichromosome maintenance complex components as significant metalloprotein targets in live cells, RSC Chemical Biology, 5, (8), 2024, p776-786
Arbour, C.A. and Fay, E.M. and McGouran, J.F. and Imperiali, B., Deploying solid-phase synthesis to access thymine-containing nucleoside analogs that inhibit DNA repair nuclease SNM1A, Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, 21, (28), 2023, p5873-5879
Fay, E.M. and McGouran, J.F., Exploring the binding pockets of the DNA damage repair enzyme SNM1A through nucleobase modification, Results in Chemistry, 5, (100939), 2023
Fay, E.M. and Newton, A. and Berney, M. and El-Sagheer, A.H. and Brown, T. and McGouran, J.F., Two-Step Validation Approach for Tools To Study the DNA Repair Enzyme SNM1A, ChemBioChem, 24, (13), 2023
Calvert, S.H. and McGouran, J.F., Rapid capture of small peptide binders, Nature Reviews Chemistry, 7, (8), 2023, p534-535
Berney, M. and Manoj, M.T. and Fay, E.M. and McGouran, J.F., 5â -Phosphorylation Increases the Efficacy of Nucleoside Inhibitors of the DNA Repair Enzyme SNM1A, ChemMedChem, 17, (5), 2022
Berney, M. and Doherty, W. and Jauslin, W.T. and T Manoj, M. and DÃŒrr, E.-M. and McGouran, J.F., Synthesis and evaluation of squaramide and thiosquaramide inhibitors of the DNA repair enzyme SNM1A, Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, 46, (116369), 2021
DÃŒrr, E.-M. and McGouran, J.F., Probing the binding requirements of modified nucleosides with the dna nuclease snm1a, Molecules, 26, (2), 2021
McKenna, S.M. and Fay, E.M. and McGouran, J.F., Flipping the Switch: Innovations in Inducible Probes for Protein Profiling, ACS Chemical Biology, 16, (12), 2021, p2719-2730
Taylor, N.C. and McGouran, J.F., Investigating eosin Y as a photocatalyst for the radical-dependent activity-based probing of deubiquitinating enzymes, Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, 19, (10), 2021, p2177-2181
Taylor, N.C. McGouran, J.F., Strategies to Target Specific Components of the Ubiquitin Conjugation/Deconjugation Machinery, Frontiers in Chemistry, 7, (914), 2020, p1-9
Taylor, N.C. Hessman, G. Kramer, H.B. McGouran, J.F., Probing enzymatic activity - a radical approach, Chemical Sciences, (11), 2020, p2967 - 2972
Unsworth, A.J., Bombik, I., Pinto-Fernandez, A., McGouran, J.F., Konietzny, R., Zahedi, R.P., Watson, S.P., Kessler, B.M., Pears, C.J., Human Platelet Protein Ubiquitylation and Changes following GPVI Activation, Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 119, (1), 2019, p104-116
Thomas A.M., Brolih S., McGouran J.F., El-Sagheer A.H., Ptchelkine D., Jones M., McDonald N.Q., McHugh P.J., Brown T., Optimised oligonucleotide substrates to assay XPF-ERCC1 nuclease activity for the discovery of DNA repair inhibitors, Chemical Communications, 55, (78), 2019, p11671 - 11674
Doherty W., Durr E.-M., Baddock H.T., Lee S.Y., McHugh P.J., Brown T., Senge M.O., Scanlan E.M., McGouran J.F., A hydroxamic-acid-containing nucleoside inhibits DNA repair nuclease SNM1A, Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry, 17, (35), 2019, p8094 - 8105
Mills, E.L. and Ryan, D.G. and Prag, H.A. and Dikovskaya, D. and Menon, D. and Zaslona, Z. and Jedrychowski, M.P. and Costa, A.S.H. and Higgins, M. and Hams, E. and Szpyt, J. and Runtsch, M.C. and King, M.S. and McGouran, J.F. and Fischer, R. and Kessler, B.M. and McGettrick, A.F. and Hughes, M.M. and Carroll, R.G. and Booty, L.M. and Knatko, E.V. and Meakin, P.J. and Ashford, M.L.J. and Modis, L.K. and Brunori, G. and Sévin, D.C. and Fallon, P.G. and Caldwell, S.T. and Kunji, E.R.S. and Chouchani, E.T. and Frezza, C. and Dinkova-Kostova, A.T. and Hartley, R.C. and Murphy, M.P. and O'Neill, L.A., Itaconate is an anti-inflammatory metabolite that activates Nrf2 via alkylation of KEAP1, Nature, 556, (7699), 2018, p113-117
Howells A., McGouran J.F., Kessler B.M., Luhn K., Dengue virus stimulation of dendritic cells induces phosphorylation- and proteolysis-dependent signalling, Malaysian Journal of Microbiology, 14, (Specialissue6), 2018, p474 - 482
Dürr, E.-M., Doherty, W., Lee, S.Y., El-Sagheer, A.H., Shivalingam, A., McHugh, P.J., Brown, T., McGouran, J.F., Squaramide-Based 5"-Phosphate Replacements Bind to the DNA Repair Exonuclease SNM1A, ChemistrySelect, 3, (45), 2018, p12824-12829
Berney M., McGouran J.F., Methods for detection of cytosine and thymine modifications in DNA, Nature Reviews Chemistry, 2, (11), 2018, p332 - 348
Doherty W, Adler N, Knox A, Nolan D, McGouran J, Nikalje A.P, Lokwani D, Sarkate A, Evans P, Synthesis and Evaluation of 1,2,3-Triazole-Containing Vinyl and Allyl Sulfones as Anti-Trypanosomal Agents, European Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2017, (1), 2017, p175 - 185
Turnbull AP, Ioannidis S, Krajewski WW, Pinto-Fernandez A, Heride C, Martin ACL, Tonkin LM, Townsend EC, Buker SM, Lancia DR, Caravella JA, Toms AV, Charlton TM, Lahdenranta J, Wilker E, Follows BC, Evans NJ, Stead L, Alli C, Zarayskiy VV, Talbot AC, Buckmelter AJ, Wang M, McKinnon CL, Saab F, McGouran JF, Century H, Gersch M, Pittman MS, Marshall CG, Raynham TM, Simcox M, Stewart LMD, McLoughlin SB, Escobedo JA, Bair KW, Dinsmore CJ, Hammonds TR, Kim S, Urbé S, Clague MJ, Kessler BM, Komander D., Molecular basis of USP7 inhibition by selective small-molecule inhibitors., Nature, 550, (7677), 2017, p481-486
Abdullah, U.B., Mcgouran, J.F., Brolih, S., Ptchelkine, D., El-Sagheer, A.H., Brown, T., Mchugh, P.J., RPA activates the XPF-ERCC1 endonuclease to initiate processing of DNA interstrand crosslinks, EMBO Journal, 2017
Biochemical and mass spectrometry-based approaches to profile sumoylation in human cells in, Activity-Based Proteomics, Humana Press, New York, NY, Springer, 2017, pp131-144 , [Kessler, B.M., Bursomanno, S., McGouran, J.F., Hickson, I.D., Liu, Y.]
Raza, F., McGouran, J.F., Kessler, B.M., Possee, R.D., King, L.A., Phosphorylation induces structural changes in the Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus P10 protein, Journal of Virology, 91, (13), 2017
Grijzenhout A, Godwin J, Koseki H, Gdula M, Szumska D, McGouran JF, Bhattacharya S, Kessler BM, Brockdorff N, Cooper S, Functional analysis of AEBP2, a PRC2 Polycomb protein, reveals a Trithorax phenotype in embryonic development and in ES cells., Development (Cambridge, England), 2016
Ghari, F. and Quirke, A.-M. and Munro, S. and Kawalkowska, J. and Picaud, S. and McGouran, J. and Subramanian, V. and Muth, A. and Williams, R. and Kessler, B. and Thompson, P.R. and Fillipakopoulos, P. and Knapp, S. and Venables, P.J. and Thangue, N.B.L., Immunology: Citrullination-acetylation interplay guides E2F-1 activity during the inflammatory response, Science Advances, 2, (2), 2016
Ghari F, Quirke AM, Munro S, Kawalkowska J, Picaud S, McGouran J, Subramanian V, Muth A, Williams R, Kessler B, Thompson PR, Fillipakopoulos P, Knapp S, Venables PJ, La Thangue NB, Citrullination-acetylation interplay guides E2F-1 activity during the inflammatory response., Science advances, 2, (2), 2016, pe1501257
Maniam S, Coutts AS, Stratford MR, McGouran J, Kessler B, La Thangue NB, Cofactor Strap regulates oxidative phosphorylation and mitochondrial p53 activity through ATP synthase., Cell death and differentiation, 22, (1), 2015, p156-63
Ying S, Chen Z, Medhurst AL, Neal JA, Bao Z, Mortusewicz O, McGouran J, Song X, Shen H, Hamdy FC, Kessler BM, Meek K, Helleday T, DNA-PKcs and PARP1 bind to unresected stalled DNA replication forks where they recruit XRCC1 to mediate repair., Cancer research, 2015
Watson AS, Riffelmacher T, Stranks A, Williams O, De Boer J, Cain K, MacFarlane M, McGouran J, Kessler B, Khandwala S, Chowdhury O, Puleston D, Phadwal K, Mortensen M, Ferguson D, Soilleux E, Woll P, Jacobsen SE, Simon AK, Autophagy limits proliferation and glycolytic metabolism in acute myeloid leukemia., Cell death discovery, 1, 2015
Bursomanno S, McGouran JF, Kessler BM, Hickson ID, Liu Y, Regulation of SUMO2 target proteins by the proteasome in human cells exposed to replication stress., Journal of proteome research, 14, (4), 2015, p1687-99
Kaisaki PJ, Otto GW, McGouran JF, Toubal A, Argoud K, Waller-Evans H, Finlay C, Caldérari S, Bihoreau MT, Kessler BM, Gauguier D, Mott R, Genetic control of differential acetylation in diabetic rats., PloS one, 9, (4), 2014, pe94555
Bowles EJ, Schiffner T, Rosario M, Needham GA, Ramaswamy M, McGouran J, Kessler B, LaBranche C, McMichael AJ, Montefiori D, Sattentau QJ, Hanke T, Stewart-Jones GB, Comparison of neutralizing antibody responses elicited from highly diverse polyvalent heterotrimeric HIV-1 gp140 cocktail immunogens versus a monovalent counterpart in rhesus macaques., PloS one, 9, (12), 2014, pe114709
Blackledge NP, Farcas AM, Kondo T, King HW, McGouran JF, Hanssen LL, Ito S, Cooper S, Kondo K, Koseki Y, Ishikura T, Long HK, Sheahan TW, Brockdorff N, Kessler BM, Koseki H, Klose RJ, Variant PRC1 complex-dependent H2A ubiquitylation drives PRC2 recruitment and polycomb domain formation., Cell, 157, (6), 2014, p1445-59
Bush J., Walport L., McGouran J., Leung I., Berridge G., Van Berkel S., Basak A., Kessler B., Schofield C., The Ugi four-component reaction enables expedient synthesis and comparison of photoaffinity probes, Chemical Science, 4, (11), 2013, p4115-4120
Zheng S, Moehlenbrink J, Lu YC, Zalmas LP, Sagum CA, Carr S, McGouran JF, Alexander L, Fedorov O, Munro S, Kessler B, Bedford MT, Yu Q, La Thangue NB, Arginine methylation-dependent reader-writer interplay governs growth control by E2F-1., Molecular cell, 52, (1), 2013, p37-51
Joanna McGouran, Holger Kramer & Benedikt Kessler, 'Active Site probes', Isis Innovation Limited, WO 2013/144656 Al, 2013
New M, Olzscha H, Liu G, Khan O, Stimson L, McGouran J, Kerr D, Coutts A, Kessler B, Middleton M, La Thangue NB, A regulatory circuit that involves HR23B and HDAC6 governs the biological response to HDAC inhibitors., Cell death and differentiation, 20, (10), 2013, p1306-16
Lercher L, McGouran JF, Kessler BM, Schofield CJ, Davis BG, DNA modification under mild conditions by Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling for the generation of functional probes., Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English), 52, (40), 2013, p10553-8
Bogani D, Morgan MA, Nelson AC, Costello I, McGouran JF, Kessler BM, Robertson EJ, Bikoff EK, The PR/SET domain zinc finger protein Prdm4 regulates gene expression in embryonic stem cells but plays a nonessential role in the developing mouse embryo., Molecular and cellular biology, 33, (19), 2013, p3936-50
McGouran JF, Gaertner SR, Altun M, Kramer HB, Kessler BM, Deubiquitinating enzyme specificity for ubiquitin chain topology profiled by di-ubiquitin activity probes., Chemistry & biology, 20, (12), 2013, p1447-55
McGouran JF, Kramer HB, Mackeen MM, di Gleria K, Altun M, Kessler BM, Fluorescence-based active site probes for profiling deubiquitinating enzymes., Organic & biomolecular chemistry, 10, (17), 2012, p3379-83
Farcas AM, Blackledge NP, Sudbery I, Long HK, McGouran JF, Rose NR, Lee S, Sims D, Cerase A, Sheahan TW, Koseki H, Brockdorff N, Ponting CP, Kessler BM, Klose RJ, KDM2B links the Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 (PRC1) to recognition of CpG islands., eLife, 1, 2012, pe00205
Cho EC, Zheng S, Munro S, Liu G, Carr SM, Moehlenbrink J, Lu YC, Stimson L, Khan O, Konietzny R, McGouran J, Coutts AS, Kessler B, Kerr DJ, Thangue NB, Arginine methylation controls growth regulation by E2F-1., The EMBO journal, 31, (7), 2012, p1785-97
Altun M, Kramer HB, Willems LI, McDermott JL, Leach CA, Goldenberg SJ, Kumar KG, Konietzny R, Fischer R, Kogan E, Mackeen MM, McGouran J, Khoronenkova SV, Parsons JL, Dianov GL, Nicholson B, Kessler BM, Activity-based chemical proteomics accelerates inhibitor development for deubiquitylating enzymes., Chemistry & biology, 18, (11), 2011, p1401-12
Boutureira O, McGouran JF, Stafford RL, Emmerson DP, Davis BG, Accessible sugars as asymmetric olefin epoxidation organocatalysts: glucosaminide ketones in the synthesis of terminal epoxides., Organic & biomolecular chemistry, 7, (20), 2009, p4285-8
Non-Peer-Reviewed Publications
Joanna McGouran & Neil Taylor, 'Protein Labelling', Barker Brettell LLP, 2020, 1 November 2022
Joanna McGouran, Proteins and DNA-New Tools through Chemical Modification, Research seminar, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Target Discovery Institute, 28/02, 2020, Dr Nicola Ternette
Joanna McGouran, Latent probes for the covalent capture of active enzymes, RSC Ireland Regional Meeting , UCD, Ireland, 7th June, 2019, Prof. Pat Guiry
Joanna McGouran, Activatable probes targeting deubiquitinating enzymes, Activity-Based Protein Profiling 2019, Leuven, Belgium, 27th March, 2019, Prof. Martin Witte & Prof. Steven Verhelst
Joanna McGouran, DNA modification to examine 5' exonuclease activity, The 18th RSC Chemical Biology and Bioorganic Group (CBBG) Firbush conference, Edinburgh, UK, 6-8th September, 2019
Joanna McGouran, Chemical proteomics: Protein modification to unravel biological function, RSC Organic Symposium , TCD, Ireland, 18th May, 2018, Prof. Eoin Scanlan
Joanna McGouran, 5' oligonucleotide modification for enhanced nuclease binding, Young Investigators Workshop, Merton College, Oxford, UK, 23-25th August, 2018, Prof. Veronique Grouverner
Research Expertise
Projects
- Title
- Disulfide modification for enhanced stability and selective delivery
- Funding Agency
- Science Foundation Ireland
- Date From
- 09/2020
- Date To
- 09/2024
- Title
- A New Approach to Inhibiting Nucleotide Excision Repair Using Cyclic Peptides
- Funding Agency
- Irish research Council
- Date From
- 10/2019
- Date To
- 10/2023
- Title
- Activity based probes for DNA processing enzymes based on modified Cytosine
- Funding Agency
- Irish research Council
- Date From
- 10/2019
- Date To
- 10/2023
- Title
- New Probes for active enzymes
- Funding Agency
- Trinity College Dublin
- Date From
- 01/2020
- Date To
- 01/2024
- Title
- Oligonucleotide probes to study the 5' exonuclease SNM1A and its function in DNA damage repair
- Funding Agency
- Irish research Council
- Date From
- 10/2017
- Date To
- 10/2021
- Title
- Activity based probes to examine DNA damage repair function and activity in cell systems
- Funding Agency
- Wellcome Trust ISSF/Trinity College Dublin
- Date From
- 04/2017
- Date To
- 04/2019
- Title
- Probing DNA damage repair
- Funding Agency
- Trinity College Dublin
- Date From
- 09/2016
- Date To
- 09/2020
- Title
- New Probes for deubiquitinating enzymes
- Funding Agency
- Trinity College Dublin
- Date From
- 09/2016
- Date To
- 09/2020
- Title
- Activity Based Probes to reveal new insights into P53 deubiquitination
- Funding Agency
- Irish research Council
- Date From
- 09/2020
- Date To
- 09/2024
Recognition
Representations
Member of the Early Career Advisory Board for the American Chemical Society's new journal ACS Bio & Med Chem Au
Swiss National Foundation evaluation committee of the SNSF special call on coronaviruses
External Examiner, PhD thesis: University of Oxford, University of Glasgow. Masters thesis: University College Dublin.
Reviewer for several international chemistry journals including publications from the American Chemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, Wiley, Elsevier, MDPI and Sage
Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry Chemical Biology and Bioorganic Group Committee.
Reviewer for UKRI grants including EPSRC and MRC
Awards and Honours
MA University of Oxford
Scholarship, University of Oxford
Memberships
Royal Society of Chemistry
The Irish Mass Spectrometry Society
American Chemical Society
Visiting assistant professor, University College Dublin