Eunus S. Ali, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral fellow
After obtaining his Master degree in medicinal & protein chemistry at Stockholm University Arrhenius Laboratory, Eunus earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry & cell biology at Flinders University School of Medicine (Adelaide, Australia) where he identified and proposed a model where low cellular Ca2+ levels help synthesize more lipids in fatty liver cells. In the Ben-Sahra laboratory, Eunus is interested in the molecular interface between signal transduction pathways and cellular metabolism in cancer.
Education:
Ph.D., 2016, Flinders University School of Medicine, Australia
M.S., 2010, Stockholm University, Sweden
Ali ES, Ben-Sahra I. Regulation of nucleotide metabolism in cancers and immune disorders. Trends Cell Biol. 2023 Nov;33(11):950-966. doi: 10.1016/j.tcb.2023.03.003.
Ali ES, Lipońska A, O'Hara BP, Amici DR, Torno MD, Gao P, Asara JM, Yap MF, Mendillo ML, Ben-Sahra I.The mTORC1-SLC4A7 axis stimulates bicarbonate import to enhance de novo nucleotide synthesis. Molecular Cell. 2022 Jun 24;S1097-2765(22)00544-5. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2022.06.008.
Shireman JM, Atashi F*, Lee G*, Ali ES*, Saathoff MR, Park CH, Savchuk S, Baisiwala S, Miska J, Lesniak MS, James CD, Stupp R, Kumthekar P, Horbinski CM, Ben-Sahra I, Ahmed AU.De novo purine biosynthesis is a major driver of chemoresistance in glioblastoma. Brain. 2021 May 7;144(4):1230-1246. *Equal contribution.
Villa E, Sahu U, O'Hara BP, Ali ES, Helmin KA, Asara JM, Gao P, Singer BD, Ben-Sahra I. mTORC1 stimulates cell growth through SAM synthesis and m6A mRNA-dependent control of protein synthesis. Molecular Cell. 2021 Mar 17:S1097-2765(21)00177-5. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2021.03.009.
Ali ES*, Sahu U*, Villa E, O’Hara BP, Gao P, Beaudet P, Wood AW, Asara JM, Ben-Sahra I. ERK2 Phosphorylates PFAS to Mediate Posttranslational Control of De Novo Purine Synthesis. Molecular Cell. 2020 May 28:S1097-2765(20)30302-6. doi:10.1016/j.molcel.2020.05.001. * Equal contribution.
Ali ES, Rychkov GY, Barritt GJ. Deranged hepatocyte intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis and the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease to hepatocellular carcinoma. Cell Calcium. 2019 Sep;82:102057. doi: 10.1016/j.ceca.2019.102057.
Villa E*, Ali ES*, Sahu U*, Ben-Sahra I. Cancer Cells Tune the Signaling Pathways to Empower de Novo Synthesis of Nucleotides. Cancers (Basel). 2019 May 17;11(5):688. doi: 10.3390/cancers11050688. * Equal contribution.
Ali ES, Petrovsky N. Calcium Signaling As a Therapeutic Target for Liver Steatosis. Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2019 Apr;30(4):270-281. doi: 10.1016/j.tem.2019.02.005. Epub 2019 Mar 5.
Tam KC, Ali E, Hua J, Chataway T, Barritt GJ. Evidence for the Interaction of peroxiredoxin-4 With the Store-Operated Calcium Channel Activator STIM1 in Liver Cells. Cell Calcium. 2018 Sep;74:14-28. doi: 10.1016/j.ceca.2018.05.002.
Ali ES, Rychkov GY, Barritt GJ.Metabolic Disorders and Cancer: Hepatocyte Store-Operated Ca2+ Channels in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2017;993:595-621. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-57732-6_30.
Ali, E. S., Hua, J., Wilson, C., Tallis, G. A., Zhou, F. H., Rychkov, G. and Barritt, G. J. (2016) The GLP-1 analogue exendin-4 reverses inhibited SOCE in steatotic hepatocytes., Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Cell Research, 1863(9):2135-46.
Ali, E. S., Rajapaksha, H., Carr, J.M. and Petrovsky, N. (2016). Norovirus drug candidates that inhibit viral capsid attachment to human histo-blood group antigens. Antiviral Research, 133:14-22. (Subsequent review of Masters thesis)
Wilson, C. H.*, Ali, E. S.*, Scrimgour, N., Martin, A., Tallis, G. A., Rychkov, G. Y. and Barritt, G. J. (2015) Steatosis inhibits liver cell store-operated Ca2+ entry and reduces ER Ca2+ through a protein kinase C dependent mechanism., Biochemical Journal, 466(2):379-90. [*Equal first-authors].
Lundborg, M., Ali, E. and Widmalm, G. (2013) An in silico virtual screening study for the design of norovirus inhibitors: fragment-based molecular docking and binding free energy calculations, Carbohydrate Research, 378:133-138.