Biography

Professor Laurence Pearl FRS is Professor of Structural Biology in the Genome Damage and Stability Centre and heads the School of Life Sciences at the University of Sussex.

For the previous 10 years Professor Pearl was Professor of Protein Crystallography at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, where he was also Chairman of the Section of Structural Biology and a member of the Board of Trustees.

His laboratory studies the structural biology of DNA repair, signal transduction (the process by which a cell converts one kind of signal or stimulus into another) and molecular 'chaperones'.

Professor Pearl began his research career at Birkbeck College, University of London and, after postdoctoral research at the Institute of Cancer Research, started his own laboratory at University College London in 1989, becoming Professor of Structural Biology in 1996.

He was awarded his PhD from Birkbeck in 1983. He previously did an MSc in Crystallography at Birkbeck and before that a BSc in Biochemistry at UCL.

Professor Pearl's seminal contributions to scientists' understanding of the recognition and repair of DNA damage and the function of molecular chaperones was recognised in 2008 with his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS).

He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO), and the Academia Europeae.

He is a founder and the Chief Scientific Officer of Domainex Ltd, a contract research company that was named UK Bio-entrepreneurial Company of the Year by the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI) in 2007.

In 2011 he was the recipient of an Inaugral Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award.

Role

Professor of Structural Biology (Genome Damage and Stability Centre)

Head of School of Life Sciences (Office : JMS 3B11)

The Pearl laboratory seeks to understand the structural basis for assembly, specificity and regulation of the multi-protein complexes involved in the recognition, repair and signalling of DNA damage, and in the chaperone-mediated stabilisation and activation of cellular signalling pathways. These basic studies provide the means for discovery and development of novel small-molecule inhibitors with application as drugs for the treatment of cancer and other diseases, where these systems are involved.

Make an appointment with my PA Trudy Myers, or just knock on my door - if I'm free I'll see you.

Polier, Sigrun, Samant, Rahul S, Clarke , Paul A, Workman, Paul, Prodromou, Chrisostomos and Pearl, Laurence H (2013) ATP-competitive inhibitors block protein kinase recruitment to the Hsp90-Cdc37 system. Nature Chemical Biology, 9 (5). pp. 307-312. ISSN 1552-4450

Ali, Ammar A E, Timinszky, Gyula, Arribas-Bosacoma, Raquel, Kozlowski, Marek, Hassa, Paul O, Hassler, Markus, Ladurner, Andreas G, Pearl, Laurence H and Oliver, Antony W (2012) The zinc-finger domains of PARP1 cooperate to recognize DNA strand breaks. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, 9 (7). pp. 685-692. ISSN 1545-9985

Garces, Fernando, Pearl, Laurence H. and Oliver, Antony W. (2011) The structural basis for substrate recognition by mammalian polynucleotide kinase 3' phosphatase. Molecular Cell, 44 (3). 385 - 396. ISSN 1097-2765

Ali, MMU, Bagratuni, T, Davenport, EL, Nowak, PR, Silva-Santiestaban, MC, Hardcastle, A, McAndrews, C, Rowlands, MG, Morgan, GJ, Aherne, W, Collins, I, Davies, FE and Pearl, Laurence (2011) Structure of the Ire1 autophosphorylation complex and implications for the unfolded protein response. EMBO Journal , 30 (5). pp. 894-905. ISSN 0261-4189

Caldwell, John J, Welsh, Emma J, Matjissen, Cornelis, Anderson, Victoria E, Antoni, Laurent, Boxall, Kathy, Urban, Frederique, Hayes, Angela, Raynaud, Florence I, Rigoreau, Laurent J M, Raynham, Tony, Aherne, G Wynne, Pearl, Laurence H, Oliver, Antony W, Garrett, Michelle D and Collins, Ian (2011) Structure-Based Design of Potent and Selective 2-(Quinazolin-2-yl)phenol Inhibitors of Checkpoint Kinase 2. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 54 (2). pp. 580-590. ISSN 0022-2623

Anderson, Victoria E, Walton, Michael I, Eve, Paul D, Boxall, Katherine J, Antoni, Laurent, Caldwell, John J, Aherne, Wynne, Pearl, Laurence H, Oliver, Antony W, Collins, Ian and Garrett, Michelle D (2011) CCT241533 Is a Potent and Selective Inhibitor of CHK2 that Potentiates the Cytotoxicity of PARP Inhibitors. Cancer Research, 71 (2). pp. 463-472. ISSN 0008-5472

Recuero-Checa, María A, Doré, Andrew S, Arias-Palomo, Ernesto, Rivera-Calzada, Angel, Scheres, Sjors H W, Maman, Joseph D, Pearl, Laurence H and Llorca, Oscar (2009) Electron microscopy of Xrcc4 and the DNA ligase IV-Xrcc4 DNA repair complex. DNA Repair, 8 (12). pp. 1380-1389. ISSN 1568-7864

Doré, Andrew S, Kilkenny, Mairi L, Rzechorzek, Neil J and Pearl, Laurence H (2009) Crystal Structure of the Rad9-Rad1-Hus1 DNA Damage Checkpoint Complex¿Implications for Clamp Loading and Regulation. Molecular Cell, 34 (6). pp. 735-745. ISSN 1097-2765

Bunney, Tom D, Opaleye, Olanivi, Roe, S Mark, Vatter, Petra, Baxendale, Rhona W, Walliser, Claudia, Everett, Katy L, Josephs, Michelle B, Christow, Carolin, Rodrigues-Lima, Fernando, Gierschik, Peter, Pearl, Laurence H and Katan, Matilda (2009) Structural Insights into Formation of an Active Signaling Complex between Rac and Phospholipase C Gamma 2. Molecular Cell, 34 (2). pp. 223-233. ISSN 1097-2765

Kilkenny, Mairi L, Doré, Andrew S, Roe, S Mark, Nestoras, Konstantinos, Ho, Jenny C Y, Watts, Felicity Z and Pearl, Laurence H (2008) Structural and functional analysis of the Crb2-BRCT2 domain reveals distinct roles in checkpoint signaling and DNA damage repair. Genes and Development, 22. pp. 2034-2047. ISSN 0890-9369

Kilkenny, Mairi L, Doré, Andrew S, Roe, S Mark, Nestoras, Konstantinos, Ho, Jenny C Y, Watts, Felicity Z and Pearl, Laurence H (2008) Structural and functional analysis of the Crb2-BRCT2 domain reveals distinct roles in checkpoint signalling. Genes and Development, 22 (15). pp. 2034-47. ISSN 0890-9369

Eccles, Suzanne A, Massey, Andy, Raynaud, Florence I, Sharp, Swee Y, Box, Gary, Valenti, Melanie, Patterson, Lisa, de Haven Brandon, Alexis, Gowan, Sharon, Boxall, Frances, Aherne, Wynne, Rowlands, Martin, Hayes, Angela, Martins, Vanessa, Urban, Frederique, Boxall, Kathy, Prodromou, Chrisostomos, Pearl, Laurence, James, Karen, Matthews, Thomas P, Cheung, Kwai-Ming, Kalusa, Andrew, Jones, Keith, McDonald, Edward, Barril, Xavier, Brough, Paul A, Cansfield, Julie E, Dymock, Brian, Drysdale, Martin J, Finch, Harry, Howes, Rob, Hubbard, Roderick E, Surgenor, Alan, Webb, Paul, Wood, Mike, Wright, Lisa and Workman, Paul (2008) NVP-AUY922: a novel heat shock protein 90 inhibitor active against xenograft tumor growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis. Cancer Research, 68 (8). pp. 2850-2860. ISSN 0008-5472

Walliser, C, Retlich, M, Wollny, C, Harris, R, Everett, K L, Josephs, M B, Roe, S M, Vatter, P, Christow, C, Rodrigues-Lima, F, Pearl, L H, Driscoll, P C, Katan, M, Gierschik, P and Bunney, T D (2008) Rac2 regulates its effector phospholipase C-gamma 2 through interaction with a split PH domain. In: 49th Annual Meeting German-Society-for-Experimental-and-Clinical-Pharmacology-and-Toxicology, Mainz, GERMANY.

Pike, Ashley C W, Rellos, Peter, Niesen, Frank H, Turnbull, Andrew, Oliver, Antony W, Parker, Sirlester A, Turk, Benjamin E, Pearl, Laurence H and Knapp, Stefan (2008) Activation segment dimerization: a mechanism for kinase autophosphorylation of non-consensus sites. EMBO Journal, 27 (4). pp. 704-714. ISSN 0261-4189