Lab Report
Scientific Report 2010 Olson (251.22 kB)
Key Publications
Scott RW, Hooper S, Crighton D, Li A, König I, Munro J, Trivier E, Wickman G, Morin P, Croft DR, Dawson J, Machesky L, Anderson KI, Sahai EA, Olson MF (2010). LIM kinases are required for invasive path-generation by tumor and tumor-associated stromal cells. J Cell Biol. 191, 169-85.
Lochhead PA, Wickman G, Mezna M, Olson MF (2010). Activating ROCK1 somatic mutations in human cancer. Oncogene 29, 2591-8.
Densham RM, O'Neill E, Munro J, König I, Anderson K, Kolch W, Olson MF (2009). MST kinases monitor actin cytoskeletal integrity and signal via c-Jun N-terminal kinase stress-activated kinase to regulate p21Waf1/Cip1 stability. Mol Cell Biol. 29, 6380-90.
Brady SC, Coleman ML, Munro J, Feller SM, Morrice NA, Olson MF (2009). Sprouty2 association with B-Raf is regulated by phosphorylation and kinase conformation. Cancer Res. 69, 6773-81.
Morin P, Flors C, Olson MF (2009). Constitutively active RhoA inhibits proliferation by retarding G(1) to S phase cell cycle progression and impairing cytokinesis. Eur J Cell Biol. 88, 495-507.
Samuel MS, Munro J, Bryson S, Forrow S, Stevenson D, Olson MF (2009). Tissue selective expression of conditionally-regulated ROCK by gene targeting to a defined locus. Genesis 47, 440-6.
Biography
Education and qualifications
1993: PhD, University of Toronto, Supervisor Bernard Schimmer
1985: BSc, Genetics, University of Alberta
Appointments
2008-present: Deputy Postgraduate Convenor, Division of Cancer Sciences, University of Glasgow
2007-present: Professor of Molecular Oncology, University of Glasgow
2006-present: Senior Group Leader, Beatson Institute for Cancer Research
2004-2006: Junior Group Leader, Beatson Institute for Cancer Research
2001-2004: Assistant Investigator, Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute; Assistant Professor, Dept of Cancer Biology: Assistant Professor, Dept of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA
1998-2001: Mr and Mrs John Jaffe Donation University Research Fellow of The Royal Society, Institute of Cancer Research, London
1996-1998: Institute of Cancer Research Fellow with Chris Marshall, Institute of Cancer Research, London
1993-1996: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Research Fellow with Alan Hall, University College London
Committee membership
2008-present: West of Scotland Comprehensive Cancer Centre Clinical Trials Executive Committee
2008-present: West of Scotland Comprehensive Cancer Centre In-House Trials Advisory Board
2006-present: Cancer Research UK Discovery Committee (Vice Chair)
Recent Publications
2011
Samuel MS, Lopez JI, McGhee EJ, Croft DR, Strachan D, Timpson P, Munro J, Schroder E, Zhou J, Brunton VG, Barker N, Clevers H, Sansom OJ, Anderson KI, Weaver VM, Olson MF (2011). Actomyosin-mediated cellular tension drives increased tissue stiffness and beta-catenin activation to induce epidermal hyperplasia and tumor growth. Cancer Cell 19, 776-91.
Samuel MS, Lourenco FC, Olson MF (2011). K-Ras mediated murine epidermal tumorigenesis is dependent upon and associated with elevated Rac1 activity. PLoS One 6, e17143.
Timpson P, McGhee EJ, Morton JP, von Kriegsheim A, Schwarz JP, Karim SA, Doyle B, Quinn JA, Carragher NO, Edward M, Olson MF, Frame MC, Brunton VG, Sansom OJ, Anderson KI (2011). Spatial regulation of RhoA activity during pancreatic cancer cell invasion driven by mutant p53. Cancer Res. 71, 747-57.
2010
Croft DR, Crighton D, Samuel MS, Lourenco FC, Munro J, Wood J, Bensaad K, Vousden KH, Sansom OJ, Ryan KM, Olson MF (2010). p53-mediated transcription and activation of the actin cytoskeleton regulatory RhoC to LIMK2 signaling pathway promotes cell survival. Cell Res. 21, 666-82.
Morin P, Wickman G, Munro J, Inman GJ, Olson MF (2010). Differing contributions of LIMK and ROCK to TGFβ-induced transcription, motility and invasion. Eur J Cell Biol. 90, 13-25.
Scott RW, Hooper S, Crighton D, Li A, König I, Munro J, Trivier E, Wickman G, Morin P, Croft DR, Dawson J, Machesky L, Anderson KI, Sahai EA, Olson MF (2010). LIM kinases are required for invasive path-generation by tumor and tumor-associated stromal cells. J Cell Biol. 191, 169-85.
Flors C, Olson MF (in press). Imaging Cytoskeletal Regulation with Super-resolution Fluorescence Microscopy. In Protocols in Cell Cycle Control: Methods and Techniques, Bicknell K, Brooks G (eds). Human Press, Totowa.
Olson MF (2010). Follow the leader: LIM kinases pave the way for collective tumor cell invasion. Cell Cycle 9,
4417-8.
Samuel M, Olson MF (2010). ROCK. In Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules, Choi S (ed). Springer, New York.
Samuel MS, Olson M (2010). Dying alone: a tale of rho. Cell Stem Cell 7, 135-6.
Lochhead PA, Wickman G, Mezna M, Olson MF (2010). Activating ROCK1 somatic mutations in human cancer. Oncogene 29, 2591-8.
Wickman G, Samuel MS, Lochhead PA, Olson MF (2010). The Rho-Regulated ROCK Kinases in Cancer. In The Rho GTPases in Cancer Part 3, van Golen K (ed) pp 163-92. Springer, New York.
2009
Densham RM, O'Neill E, Munro J, König I, Anderson K, Kolch W, Olson MF (2009). MST kinases monitor actin cytoskeletal integrity and signal via c-Jun N-terminal kinase stress-activated kinase to regulate p21Waf1/Cip1 stability. Mol Cell Biol. 29, 6380-90.
Brady SC, Coleman ML, Munro J, Feller SM, Morrice NA, Olson MF (2009). Sprouty2 association with B-Raf is regulated by phosphorylation and kinase conformation. Cancer Res. 69, 6773-81.
Morin P, Flors C, Olson MF (2009). Constitutively active RhoA inhibits proliferation by retarding G(1) to S phase cell cycle progression and impairing cytokinesis. Eur J Cell Biol. 88, 495-507.
Samuel MS, Munro J, Bryson S, Forrow S, Stevenson D, Olson MF (2009). Tissue selective expression of conditionally-regulated ROCK by gene targeting to a defined locus. Genesis 47, 440-6.
Olson MF, Sahai E (2009). The actin cytoskeleton in cancer cell motility. Clin Exp Metastasis 26, 273-87.
2008
Croft DR, Olson MF (2008). Regulating the conversion between rounded and elongated modes of cancer cell movement. Cancer Cell 14, 349-51.
Olson MF (2008). Applications for ROCK kinase inhibition. Curr Opin Cell Biol. 20, 242-8.
Merdek KD, Jaffe AB, Dutt P, Olson MF, Hall A, Fanburg BL, Kayyali US, Toksoz D (2008). Alpha(E)-Catenin induces SRF-dependent transcriptional activity through its C-terminal region and is partly RhoA/ROCK-dependent. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 366, 717-23.
2007
Olson MF (2007). Mechanisms of tumour cell invasion and metastasis. J Mol Med. 85, 543-4.
Scott RW, Olson MF (2007). LIM kinases: function, regulation and association with human disease. J Mol Med. 85, 555-68.
Graham K, Olson MF (2007). The ras signalling pathway as a target in cancer therapy. Recent Results Cancer Res. 172, 125-53.
The Rho family of small molecular weight GTPases has emerged as a critically important group of signalling proteins in human cancer. In contrast to the closely related Ras GTPases (H, N, K) that have relatively frequent incidences of activating mutations, Rho family genes are not activated by mutation in cancers. However, research has revealed that signalling via Rho GTPase regulated pathways is intimately linked with a wide variety of biological processes that contribute to the initiation, growth and progression of human tumours. My lab has focussed on the involvement of Rho GTPase signalling pathways in cancer, with the ultimate goal of identifying critical elements that could be targeted with small molecule inhibitors for the treatment of cancer.
