Dr. Steven Gray

Dr. Steven Gray

Clinical Senior Lecturer, Clinical Medicine

Clinical Senior Lecturer

http://www.tcd.ie/IMM/research_cancer.php

Biography

Steven Gray graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1992. He joined the laboratory of Tomas J. Ekstrom at the Karolinska Institute in 1996 and received his PhD in 2000 (Thesis Title: The IGF-axis in liver disease: Modulation of expression by histone deacetylase inhibitors). He moved to the Van Andel Research Institute where he continued his studies on the therapeutic potential of histone deacetylase inhibitors in the treatment of cancer.Returning to Europe Dr Gray spent some time at the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ - Heidelberg), and subsequently moved to Copenhagen to join the research team of Prof Pierre De Meyts at the Hagedorn Research Institute. Dr Gray is currently a senior clinical scientist at St James's Hospital in the Deprtment of Clinical Oncology in the Thoraacic Oncology unit headed by Prof Kenneth J O'Byrne, and holds an adjunct assistant professorship with the Dept of Clinical Medicine (TCD).

Publications and Further Research Outputs

  • MacDonagh,Lauren , Gray,Steven George, Finn,Stephen P. , Cuffe,Sinead D. , O'Byrne,Kenneth John, Barr,Martin P. , The emerging role of microRNAs in resistance to lung cancer treatments, Cancer Treatment Reviews, 41, (2), 2015, p160-169Journal Article, 2015, DOI
  • MacDonagh L, Gray SG, Breen E, Cuffe S, Finn SP, O'Byrne KJ, Barr MP, Lung cancer stem cells: The root of resistance., Cancer letters, 372, (2), 2016, p147-56Journal Article, 2016, DOI
  • Cregan S, McDonagh L, Gao Y, Barr MP, O'Byrne KJ, Finn SP, Cuffe S, Gray SG, KAT5 (Tip60) is a potential therapeutic target in malignant pleural mesothelioma., International journal of oncology, 48, (3), 2016, p1290-6Journal Article, 2016, DOI
  • MacDonagh L, Gray SG, Breen E, Cuffe S, Finn SP, O'Byrne KJ, Barr MP, Exploitation of the vitamin A/retinoic acid axis depletes ALDH1-positive cancer stem cells and re-sensitises resistant non-small cell lung cancer cells to cisplatin., Translational Oncology, 14, (4), 2021, p101025-Journal Article, 2021
  • Dockry , O'Leary S, Gleeson LE, Lyons J, Keane J, Gray SG, Doherty DG, Epigenetic induction of CD1d expression primes lung cancer cells for killing by invariant natural killer T cells, OncoImmunology, 2018, pe1428156-Journal Article, 2018, URL
  • MacDonagh, L. and Gray, S.G. and Breen, E. and Cuffe, S. and Finn, S.P. and O'Byrne, K.J. and Barr, M.P., BBI608 inhibits cancer stemness and reverses cisplatin resistance in NSCLC, Cancer Letters, 428, 2018, p117-126Journal Article, 2018, DOI , URL
  • Ryan, S.-L. and Beard, S. and Barr, M.P. and Umezawa, K. and Heavey, S. and Godwin, P. and Gray, S.G. and Cormican, D. and Finn, S.P. and Gately, K.A. and Davies, A.M. and Thompson, E.W. and Richard, D.J. and O'Byrne, K.J. and Adams, M.N. and Baird, A.-M., Targeting NF-KB-mediated inflammatory pathways in cisplatin-resistant NSCLC, Lung Cancer, 135, 2019, p217-227Journal Article, 2019, DOI , URL
  • Baird AM, Easty D, Jarzabek M, Shiels L, Soltermann A, Klebe S, Raeppel S, MacDonagh L, Wu C, Griggs K, Kirschner MB, Stanfill B, Nonaka D, Goparaju CM, Murer B, Fennell DA, O'Donnell DM, Barr MP, Mutti L, Reid G, Finn S, Cuffe S, Pass HI, Opitz I, Byrne AT, O'Byrne KJ, Gray SG., When RON MET TAM in Mesothelioma: All Druggable for One, and One Drug for All?, Frontiers in endocrinology, 10, 2019, p89Journal Article, 2019, DOI
  • MacDonagh L, Gallagher MF, Ffrench B, Gasch C, Gray SG, Reidy M, Nicholson S, Leonard N, Ryan R, Young V, O'Leary JJ, Cuffe S, Finn SP, O'Byrne KJ, Barr MP., MicroRNA expression profiling and biomarker validation in treatment-nave and drug resistant non-small cell lung cancer., Translational lung cancer research, 10, (4), 2021, p1773-1791Journal Article, 2021, DOI
  • Mankan, A.K., Lawless, M.W., Gray, S.G., Kelleher, D., McManus, R., NF-κB regulation: The nuclear response , Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine , 13, (4), 2009, p631-643Journal Article, 2009, DOI , URL , TARA - Full Text
  • O'Byrne KJ, Barr MP, Gray SG., The role of epigenetics in resistance to cisplatin chemotherapy in lung cancer, Cancers, 3, (1), 2011, p1426 - 1453Journal Article, 2011, DOI , URL , TARA - Full Text
  • KJ O'Byrne, The Role of Epigenetics in Resistance to Cisplatin Chemotherapy in Lung Cancer, Cancers , 3, (1), 2011, p1426-1453Journal Article, 2011, DOI , URL , TARA - Full Text
  • Barr MP, Gray SG, Hoffmann AC, Hilger RA, Thomale J, O'Flaherty JD, Fennell DA, Richard D, O'Leary JJ, O'Byrne KJ., Generation and characterisation of Cisplatin-resistant non-small cell lung cancer cell lines displaying a stem-like signature., PloS one, 8, (1), 2013, pe54193Journal Article, 2013, DOI , URL , TARA - Full Text

Research Expertise

My research interests centre around the: a) Histone Deacetylases (HDACs) as therapeutic targets in disease. The "histone code" is a well established hypothesis which proposes that the combinatorial nature of distinct posttranslational modifications on histone amino termini leads to inherited chromatin structures with critical regulatory functions in most biological functions including "cell fate decisions and both normal and pathological development". One of the posttranslational modifications utilised in the histone code is acetylation. The enzymes which regulate this modification are lysine acetyltransferases (KATs) and histone deacetylases (HDACs). Inhibitors for HDACs are well established and are currently undergoing clinical trials for several diseases. I have focussed my research on evaluating the therapeutic potential of histone deacetylase inhibitors in the treatment of cancer and neurodegenerative disease, and also establishing how these inhibitors affect general gene expression in experimental systems using global transcriptional microarray profiling. b) Epigenomics/Epigenetics. Aberrant CpG DNA methylation is a frequent epigenetic event which occurs in cancer, often resulting in the silencing of critical tumour suppressor genes. I have focussed my reasearch on using DNA methylation analysis to examine the methylation surrounding promoters of genes whose expression is altered in cancer. c) Epigenetics underpinning resistance to chemotherapy d) Identifiaction of novel biomarkers in cancer