Professor in Biochemistry and South African Research Chair in Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Eukaryotic Stress Response
-400x490.jpg)
Research Interests
Protein homeostasis, chaperone biology and drug discovery
For detailed information on my research please see the BioBRU website
Biography
Adrienne completed her BSc in Biochemistry and Microbiology at Rhodes University. She started her postgraduate studies at Rhodes University, completing her Honours in Biochemistry under the supervision of Prof Stephanie Burton and her MSc in Biochemistry under the supervision of Prof Gregory Blatch. In 2003, she was awarded a Beit International Fellowship to complete an MSc in Forensic Science at King’s College London, where she worked with Professor Virginia Murray at the Division of Chemical Hazards and Poisons of the UK Health Protection Agency. This led to a prestigious Wellcome Trust PhD fellowship to Glasgow University. During this she completed a Master of Research degree in Molecular Basis of Disease, before joining the laboratory of Professor Bill Cushley for her PhD in cellular biochemistry. After graduating in 2008, she returned to Rhodes University to conduct postdoctoral research with Prof Greg Blatch. In 2009, Prof Blatch established the Biomedical Biotechnology Research Unit with seed funding from Rhodes University, and Adrienne was appointed as a contract lecturer in Biochemistry. This led to Adrienne becoming Director of BioBRU in 2011 and a permanent academic position at Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry in 2013.
In 2015, Adrienne was awarded a South African Research Chair (SARChI) from the Department of Science and Innovation and National Research Foundation which allowed her to focus solely on research and postgraduate training. This provided a platform for Adrienne to grow her research team and focus, and to attract several prestigious research grants, including 2 large equipment grants from the National Research Foundation, an Advanced Newton Fellowship from the Academy of Medical Sciences (UK) and a Tres Cantos Open Lab Fellowship in collaboration with the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Most recently, Adrienne received one of only 4 grants awarded in 2022 under the UKRI Medical Research Council African Research Leader’s scheme.
Adrienne has consistently ranked in the top 20 most productive researchers at Rhodes University. She has produced over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles, 9 book chapters and 4 edited books, in addition to numerous conference presentations, and has graduated 30 PhD and 35 MSc students.
In recognition of her research, Adrienne was awarded the Rhodes University VC Distinguished Research Medal in 2015, and the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) South African Women in Science (SAWiSA) Award for Distinguished Young Scientist in the Natural/Engineering Sciences in 2018. She is an NRF-rated scientist and an elected Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) (since 2018) and the Cell Stress Society International (CSSI) (since 2020), and a member of Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) (since 2017).
Academic Qualifications
Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (University of Glasgow, UK). Wellcome Trust Programme (2004 - 2008)
M.Res. in Molecular Functions in Disease (University of Glasgow, UK) (2005)
M.Sc. in Forensic Science (King’s College London KCL, UK) (2004)
M.Sc. in Biochemistry (Distinction)(Rhodes University, RSA) (2003)
B.Sc. Honours in Biochemistry (Distinction) (Rhodes University, RSA) (2001)
B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Microbiology (Distinction)(Rhodes University, RSA) (2000)
Key awards
Winner DST South African Women in Science (SAWiSA) Award for Distinguished Young Scientist in the Natural/Engineering Sciences (2018)
DST/NRF SARChI in Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Eukaryotic Stress Response (2015 – 2025)
Rhodes University Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award (2015)
Positions and Awards
Winner DST South African Women in Science (SAWiSA) Award for Distinguished Young Scientist in the Natural/Engineering Sciences (2018)
Scientific Reports Editorial Board (Panel: Cancer) (2018-2020)
Member of Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) (2017-current)
DST/NRF SARChI in Molecular and Cellular Biology of the Eukaryotic Stress Response (2015 - 2020)
Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award (2015)
NRF Y1 rating (2014 – 2019)
Director; Biomedical Biotechnology Research Unit (BioBRU) (2011 – current)
Senior Lecturer in Biochemistry, Rhodes University (2013 – current)
Lecturer in Biochemistry, Rhodes University (2009 – 2013)
NRF and Claude Leon Postdoctoral Fellow, Rhodes University (2008 – 2009)
Wellcome Trust PhD Fellowship in Molecular Functions in Disease (2003 – 2008)
Beit Trust International Postgraduate Fellowship to KCL (Forensic Science) (2002 – 2003)
List of my publications on Google Scholar
Selected Publications
Boel N.M.E., Hunter M.C., Edkins AL*. LRP1 is required for novobiocin-mediated fibronectin turnover. 2018. Scientific Reports 8: 11438.
Mandal G, Biswas S, Chowdhury SR, Chatterjee A, Purohit S, Khamaru P, Chakraborty S, Mandal PK, Gupta A, de la Mare J-A, Edkins AL*, Bhattacharyya A. Heterodimer formation by Oct4 and Smad3 differentially regulates epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition-associated factors in breast cancer progression. 2018. BBA-Molecular Basis of Disease. 1864 (6), 2053-2066.
Edkins AL*, Price JT, Pockley AG, Blatch GL. Heat shock proteins as modulators and therapeutic targets of chronic disease: an integrated perspective. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 2018. 373(1738).
Dhanani KCH, Samson WJ, Edkins AL*. Fibronectin is a stress responsive gene regulated by HSF1 in response to geldanamycin. Scientific Reports 2017 7 (1), 17617.
De la Mare J-A, Perks T, Edkins AL*. Extracellular Hsp90 and TGFβ regulate adhesion, migration and anchorage independent growth in a paired colon cancer cell line model. BMC Cancer. 2017. 17 (1), 202.
Mbaba M, Mabhula A, Boel N, Edkins AL, Isaacs M, Hoppe H, Khanye S. Ferrocenyl and organic novobiocin derivatives: Synthesis and their in vitro biological activity. Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry 2017. 172, 88-93
Mattison SA, Blatch GL and Edkins AL*. HOP expression is regulated by p53 and RAS and characteristic of a cancer gene signature. Cell Stress and Chaperones. 2016 Published online, p1-11 DOI: 10.1007/s12192-016-0755-8.
Edkins AL*. (2016). Hsp90 Co-chaperones as Drug Targets in Cancer: Current Perspectives. Chapter in “Heat Shock Protein Inhibitors: Success Stories” for the series Topics in Medicinal Chemistry pp 21-54. Editor: Shelli McAlpine and Adrienne Edkins. Springer. ISBN: 978-3-319-32605-4
Edkins AL*. (2015) CHIP: A Co-chaperone for Degradation by the Proteasome. Subcellular Biochemistry.78:219-42. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-11731-7_11.
Pesce ER, Blatch GL and Edkins AL*. (2015). Hsp40 as drug targets: towards the Development of Specific Inhibitors. Chapter in “Heat Shock Protein Inhibitors: Success Stories” for the series Topics in Medicinal Chemistry. pp 163-195. Editors: Shelli McAlpine and Adrienne Edkins. Springer. ISBN: 978-3-319-32605-4
Baindur-Hudson S, Edkins AL*, Blatch GL. (2015) Hsp70/Hsp90 organising protein (hop): beyond interactions with chaperones and prion proteins. Subcellular Biochemistry.78:69-90. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-11731-7_3.
S Aliwaini, WL. Kröger, A Blanckenberg, Jo de la Mare, AL Edkins, S Mapolie, S Prince. The palladacycle, AJ-5, exhibits anti-tumour and anti-cancer stem cell activity in breast cancer cells. Cancer Letters 2015; 357: 206–218, doi:10.1016/j.canlet.2014.11.027
Hunter, M.C. O’Hagan, K.L., Kenyon, A. Dhanani, KCH, Prinsloo, EA, Edkins, AL* Hsp90 binds directly to fibronectin (FN) and inhibition reduces the extracellular fibronectin matrix in breast cancer cells. PLoS One. 2014 Jan 22;9(1):e86842.
Amemiya, CT, Alfoldi, J., //Edkins AL.// Kerstin Lindblad-Toh. Comparative analysis of the genome of the African coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae, sheds light on tetrapod evolution. Nature. 2013 Apr 17;496(7445):311-316. DOI: 10.1038/nature12027
Willmer T, Contu L, Blatch GL, Edkins AL.* Knockdown of Hop downregulates RhoC expression, and decreases pseudopodia formation and migration in cancer cell lines. Cancer Letters. 2013 Jan 28;328(2):252-60.
Edkins AL, Borland G, Acharya M, Cogdell R, Ozanne B, Cushley W. Differential regulation of monocyte cytokine release by αv and β2 integrins that bind CD23. Immunology 2012 Jun;136(2):241-51.
De la Mare J-A, Lawson, JC, Chiwakata M, Beukes D, Edkins AL, Blatch GL. Quinones and halogenated monoterpenes of algal origin show anti-proliferative effects against breast cancer cells in vitro. Invest New Drugs. 2012 Dec;30(6):2187-200.
Sterrenberg JN, Blatch GL, Edkins AL. Human DNAJ in Cancer and Stem Cells. Cancer Letters. 2011 312: 129-142
Lawson JC, Blatch GL, Edkins AL. Cancer stem cells in breast cancer and metastasis. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2009 Nov;118(2):241-54
Acharya M, Edkins AL, Ozanne BW, Cushley W. SDF-1 and PDGF enhance alphavbeta5-mediated ERK activation and adhesion-independent growth of human pre-B cell lines. Leukemia. 2009 Oct;23(10):1807-17.
Borland G, Edkins AL, Acharya M, Matheson J, White LJ, Allen JM, Bonnefoy JY, Ozanne BW, Cushley W. alphavbeta5 integrin sustains growth of human pre-B cells through an RGD-independent interaction with a basic domain of the CD23 protein. J Biol Chem. 2007 Sep 14;282(37):27315-26.
Contact Information
Last Modified: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 11:27:04 SAST