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Peter McCourt
Post Doc.
Telefon (+47)
776 46391/45392
E-mail
petermcc@fagmed.uit.no
Academic background:
1983-1985 – Bachelor of Science (in Chemistry and Biology)
Flinders University,Bedford Park SA 5042
Australia
1986 – Bachelor of Science Honours (Medicine) (1st Class),
Flinders University,Bedford Park SA 5042, Australia
Honours thesis title: “Regulation of cytochromes P450 in cultured rabbit hepatocytes”
1992-1999 – Ph.D. (Biochemistry),
Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology,
University of Uppsala,
SE-751 23 Uppsala,
Sweden
Ph.D. thesis title: ”Hyaluronan binding proteins of the hepatic sinusoid – their purification and characterisation”, Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis 818 (1999)
Areas of research expertise:
1. Protein purification, using ion exchange, gel filtration and hydrophobic interaction techniques, as well as ligand-, immuno- and reactive dye-affinity chromatography;
2. Protein analysis with one and two dimensional SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting;
3. Production of poly and monoclonal antibodies;
4. Tissue culture and immunohistochemistry;
5. Recombinant protein expression, in mammalian and bacterial systems;
6. Development of clinical ELISAs and other immunoassays.
Research background:
April 1999 - present
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Experimental Pathology,
Institute for Medical Biology, University of Tromsø with Professor Bård Smedsrød, studying receptors responsible for the clearance of waste connective tissue molecules from the circulation by scavenger endothelial cells.
April 1992 – March 1999
Ph.D. Student, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology,
March 1999 University of Uppsala, Sweden under the supervision of Professors Torvard
Laurent and Staffan Johansson, working on the purification, characterisation and cloning of hyaluronan receptors on liver scavenger endothelial cells.
October 1990 - March 1992
Guest Researcher, Department of Medical and Physiological Chemistry,
March 1992 University of Uppsala, Sweden under the supervision of Professor Torvard
Laurent, studying hyaluronan binding properties of monocytic cell lines.
February 1987 – September 1990
Research Assistant, Lysosomal Diseases Research Unit, Adelaide Children's Hospital, Adelaide, Australia with Professor John Hopwood, working on the purification of lysosomal enzymes, production of monoclonal antibodies, and development of ELISAs for clinical assessment of lysosomal enzyme deficiencies.
January 1986 – December 1986
Honours student in the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at Flinders University, under the supervision of Professor Don Birkett, working on the cytochrome P450 mediated metabolism of the carcinogen 2-acetylaminofluorene in cultured rabbit hepatocytes.
Prizes:
RF Whelan Conference Poster Prize (1986) Australasian Society of Clinical
Experimental Pharmacologists
Poster Prize (1995) Twentieth Annual Lorne Conference on Protein Structure and Function
Publications:
P.A.G. McCourt, B. Hansen, D. Svistounov, S. Johansson, P. Longati, K. Schledzewski, J. Kzhyshkowska, S. Goerdt, S. Johansson and B. Smedsrød. “The liver sinusoidal endothelial cell hyaluronan receptor and its homolog, stabilin-1 - their roles(known and unknown)in endocytosis”, Book section in "Hyaluronan: Its Structure, Metabolism, Biological Activities and Therapeutic Applications", Editors: E.A. Balazs and V.C. Hascall,volume 2, pages 611-614, 2005 Matrix Biology Institute,Edgewater, New Jersey.
Hansen, B., Longati, P., Elvevold, K., Nedredal, G.I., Schledzewski, K., Olsen, R., Falkowski, M., Kzhyshkowska, J., Carlsson, F., Johansson, S., Smedsrod, B., Goerdt, S., McCourt, P. Stabilin-1 and stabilin-2 are both directed into the early endocytic pathway in hepatic sinusoidal endothelium via interactions with clathrin/AP-2, independent of ligand binding. Exp Cell Res. 2005 Feb 1;303(1):160-73.
Dmitri N. Svistounov, Tore J. Berg, Peter A.G. McCourt, Svetlana N. Zykova, Kjetil H. Elvevold, Ryoji Nagai, Seikoh Horiuchi and Bård H. Smedsrød . Lack of recognition of
Nε -(carboxymethyl)lysine by the mouse liver reticulo-endothelial system: implications for pathophysiology.
Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 309 (2003) 786-791
Politz O, Gratchev A, McCourt PA, Schledzewski K, Guillot P, Johansson S,Svineng G, Franke P, Kannicht C,Kzhyshkowska J, Longati P, Velten FW,Johansson S, Goerdt S. "Stabilin-1 and -2 constitute a novel family of fasciclin-like hyaluronan receptor homologues." Biochem J. 2002 362:155-64.
P.A.G. McCourt, B. Smedsrød, J. Melkko and S. Johansson (1999). “Characterisation of an hyaluronan receptor on rat liver endothelial cells and its functional relationship to scavenger receptors.” Hepatology 30:1276-1286.
P.A.G. McCourt (1999). “How does the hyaluronan scrap-yard operate?” Matrix Biology 18:427-432.
P.A.G. McCourt and S. Gustafson (1997).
“On the adsorption of hyaluronan and ICAM-1 to modified hydrophobic resins.” Int. J. Biochem. Cell Biol. 29:1179-1189.
P.A.G. McCourt, B. Ek, N. Forsberg and S. Gustafson (1994). “Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 is a cell surface receptor for hyaluronan.” J. Biol. Chem. 269:30081-30084. NB - this finding proved to be an artefact. See the paper above for details.
D. A. Brooks, G.S. Harper, G.J. Gibson, L.J. Ashton, J.A. Taylor, P.A.G. McCourt,C. Freeman, P.R. Clements, J.W. Hoffmann and J.J. Hopwood (1992). “Hurler syndrome: a patient with abnormally high levels of alpha-L-iduronidase protein.” Biochem. Med. Metab. Biol. 47:211-220.
L.J. Ashton, D.A. Brooks, P.A.G. McCourt, V.J. Muller, P.R. Clements and J. J.Hopwood (1992). “Immunoquantification and enzyme kinetics of alpha-L-iduronidase: in cultured fibroblasts from mucopolysaccharidosis type I patients.” Am. J. Hum. Genet. 50: 787-794.
D.A. Brooks, P.A.G. McCourt, G.J. Gibson, L.J. Ashton, M. Shutter and J.J. Hopwood (1991). ”Analysis of N-acetylglucosamine-4- sulfatase protein and kinetics in mucopolysaccharidosis type VI patients.” Am. J. Hum. Genet. 48: 710-719.
D.A. Brooks, G.J. Gibson, P.A.G. McCourt and J.J. Hopwood (1991). “A specific fluorogenic assay for N-acetylglucosamine 4-sulphatase activity using immunoadsorption.” J. Inher. Metab. Dis. 14: 5-12.
D.A. Brooks, P.A.G. McCourt, G.J. Gibson and J.J. Hopwood (1990). “Immunoquantification of the low abundance lysosomal enzyme N-acetylgalactosamine 4- sulphatase, J. Inher. Metab. Dis. 13: 108-120.
P.R. Clements, D.A. Brooks, P.A.G. McCourt and J.J. Hopwood (1989). “Immunopurification and characterisation of human alpha-L-iduronidase with the use of monoclonal antibodies.” Biochem. J. 259:199-208.
Manuscripts:
P.A.G. McCourt, S. Johansson, J. Melkko, U. Mayer and B. Smedsrød (2001).
“Nidogen is a physiological ligand for the scavenger receptor in liver endothelial cells.” In preparation.
Posters/oral presentations:
P.A.G. McCourt, B. H. Smedsrød and S. Johansson (1998). “Purification of the Rat Liver
Endothelial Cell Hyaluronan Receptor, and its Potential Relationship to the Scavenger
Receptor.” Federation of European Connective Tissue Societies 26th Meeting, August 26-
30, 1998 Uppsala, Sweden (poster and oral presentation)
P.A.G. McCourt (1998). “Purification of the Rat Liver Endothelial Cell Hyaluronan
Receptor.” The Keystone Symposium on Endothelium, March 22-28, 1998, Lake Tahoe,
USA (poster and workshop oral presentation)
P. McCourt, D.J. Birkett and M.E. McManus (1986). “Cytochrome P450 expression in cultured rabbit hepatocytes” Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists, Melbourne, Australia (poster)
Proceedings:
D.A. Brooks, P.A.G. McCourt, L.J. Ashton, J. Hughes, J. Taylor, G.J. Gibson and
J.J. Hopwood (1990). “Immunochemical analysis of mucopolysaccharidosis type I and
VI enzymes.” Proceedings of the 3rd International Congress of MPS & Related Disorders.
Patent Applications:
S. Asculai, E. A. Turley and P. McCourt (1997). “Use of moieties for binding to hyaluronan and ICAM-1.” Canadian Patent Office Application Nos. 2,193,941 (submitted 1996-12-24) and 2,195,386 (Submitted 1997-01-17) International Patent Application No.
PCT/CA97/01002 (submitted1997-12-23; published 1998-07-02). Patent granted in South Africa, pending in Canada.
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