BRUCE C. MCKAY, PhD

bmckay@ohri.ca
Telephone: 613-737-7700 ext 70338
Fax: 613-247-3524

Scientist, Cancer Therapeutics, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Assistant Professor, Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa

Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, University of Ottawa

Keywords : apoptosis, cisplatin, DNA repair, p53, ultraviolet light

Research Interests:

Work in the lab is focused on understanding the cellular responses to DNA damage. Understanding these processes is important for a number of reasons. First, genomic instability is associated with increased risk of cancer. A number of tumour suppressor proteins such as p53 and BRCA-1 function to maintain genomic integrity so defects in these processes are essential to understand cancer. Second, radiation and chemotherapy target tumours by causing lethal DNA damage in tumour cells. The success of these therapies is determined through a series of complex cellular processes including DNA repair and apoptosis. Fully understanding the interplay amongst these processes is important to predict therapeutic responses. As our understanding of these processes increases through our basic science studies, we develop novel therapeutic strategies that we can subsequently evaluate in the lab.

Most Recent Publications (provided by The Ottawa Hospital Library Database)

Stubbert LJ;Smith JM;McKay BC;, (2010), Decreased transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair capacity is associated with increased p53- and MLH1-independent apoptosis in response to cisplatin, BMC Cancer, Vol.10, 207 -> view abstract

Stubbert LJ;Spronck JC;Hamill JD;McKay BC;, (2009 Sep 15), Ultraviolet light induces the sustained unscheduled expression of cyclin E in the absence of functional p53, Cell Cycle, Vol.8, Issue 18, 2995-3002 -> view abstract

Stubbert LJ;Smith JM;Hamill JD;Arcand TL;McKay BC;, (2009 Apr 26), The anti-apoptotic role for p53 following exposure to ultraviolet light does not involve DDB2, Mutation Research, Vol.663, Issue 2-Jan, 69-76 -> view abstract

Stubbert LJ;Hamill JD;Spronck JC;Smith JM;Becerril C;McKay BC;, (2007 May), DDB2-independent role for p53 in the recovery from ultraviolet light-induced replication arrest, Cell Cycle, Vol.6, Issue 14, 1730-1740

Smith JM;Stubbert LJ;Hamill JD;McKay BC;, (2007 Dec), The contribution of transactivation subdomains 1 and 2 to p53-induced gene expression is heterogeneous but not subdomain-specific, Neoplasia, Vol.9, Issue 12, 1057-1065 -> view abstract

McKay BC;Stubbert LJ;Fowler CC;Smith JM;Cardamore RA;Spronck JC;, (2004), Regulation of ultraviolet light-induced gene expression by gene size, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol.101, Issue 17, 6582-6586 -> view abstract

McKay BC;Becerril C;Spronck JC;Ljungman M;, (2002 Oct 1), Ultraviolet light-induced apoptosis is associated with S-phase in primary human fibroblasts, DNA Repair, Vol.1, Issue 10, 811-820 -> view abstract

Note: This is not a complete list of publications. More publications may be available in The Ottawa Hospital Library database and Pubmed (search by last name and initials).