hollenbach

Andrew Hollenbach, PhD

Professor of Genetics

533 Bolivar Street
New Orleans, LA 70112
Fax: (504) 568-8500

aholle@lsuhsc.edu

Degrees

BS Chemistry - 1989
University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware

PhD Biochemistry - 1994
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Bio

Dr. Hollenbach received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Delaware in 1989 and his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Biochemistry from Johns Hopkins University in 1994. Dr. Hollenbach conducted his postdoctoral training in the lab of Dr. Gerard Grosveld at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, and was subsequently promoted to a junior faculty position in 2001. Dr. Hollenbach accepted a position in the Department of Genetics at LSUHSC in April 2003 where he is also a member of the Stanley S. Scott Cancer Center.

Dr. Hollenbach’s research focuses on understanding how phosphorylation of the transcription factor Pax3 regulates its biological activity to control muscle and melanocyte development and how alteration of this activity contributes to the development of the childhood solid muscle tumor alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) and melanoma. Towards this end, his lab has identified the three sites of phosphorylation on Pax3, they have identified two of the three kinases responsible for phosphorylating these sites, and they have determined that the pattern of Pax3 phosphorylation changes significantly during the first eight hours of myogenesis.  

Following up on these discoveries, one of the projects in the lab focuses on the oncogenic fusion protein, Pax3-FOXO1, which results from the characteristic t(2;13) reciprocal chromosomal translocation, the hallmark of ARMS. His lab has determined that the pattern of phosphorylation on Pax3-FOXO1 is significantly different from wild type Pax3. Dr. Hollenbach is interested in elucidating how the altered phosphorylation of Pax3-FOXO1 changes the normal functions of wild-type Pax3 and how this altered phosphorylation contributes to the development of ARMS. 

A second project involves examining how phosphorylation of Pax3 contributes to the development of melanoma. Pax3 is key for melanocyte development and is believed to contribute to the development of melanoma. In addition to having increased levels of Pax3, Dr. Hollenbach’s lab has discovered that Pax3 has an altered pattern of phosphorylation in a metastatic melanoma cell line relative to wild type melanocytes. His lab is interested in elucidating how this altered phosphorylation affects normal Pax3 regulation to promote melanoma cell survival. 

Research Interests

  • Regulation of transcription factors through phosphorylation
  • Biochemical mechanisms of chromosomal translocation gene products in cancer formation

Teaching Activities

Co-Course Director – INTER101 “Introduction to Research and Resources”
Course Director – INTER122 “Molecular Biology”
Course Director – INTER123 “Control of Gene Expression”
Co-Course Director – GENET245 “Cancer Molecular Genetics and Applications”
Co-Course Director – GENET299 “Seminar in Human Genetics”
Lecturer – GENET243 “Human Molecular Genetics”

Committees & Administrative Responsibilities

Chair – School of Medicine Committee on Communications

Head Editor – School of Medicine Newsletter, The Pulse

School of Medicine Faculty Assembly

School of Medicine Committee on Multiculturalism and Diversity

School of Graduate Studies Committee on Multiculturalism and Diversity

Department of Genetics – Associate Graduate Coordinator

Department of Genetics Curriculum Committee

Department of Genetics Graduate Student Oversight Committee

 

 

Ad hoc reviewer: Carcinogenesis, International Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Journal of Molecular Biology, Protein Expression and Purification, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Nucleic Acids Research, Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, American Journal of Physiology – Cell Physiology

 

Selected Publications

 

Peer-reviewed journals:

Miller, P. J. and Hollenbach, A. D. (2007) “The oncogenic fusion protein Pax3-FKHR has a greater post-translational stability relative to Pax3 during early myogenesis” Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1770(10), 1450 – 1458. 

Sidhu, A., Miller, P. J., Johanson, K. E., and Hollenbach, A. D. (2008) Novel flanking DNA sequences enhance FOXO1a DNA binding affinity but do not alter DNA bending. Biochemistry 47:6809-18.

Miller, P. J., Dietz, K. N., and Hollenbach, A. D. (2008) Identification of serine 205 as a site of phosphorylation on Pax3 in proliferating but not differentiating primary myoblasts. Protein Sci 17:1979-86. 

Dietz, K. N., Miller P. J., and Hollenbach, A. D. (2009) “Phosphorylation of Ser205 by Casein kinase II persists on Pax3-FOXO1a, but not Pax3, throughout myogenic differentiation” Biochemistry 48: 11786 – 95. 

Sidhu, A., Miller, P. J., and Hollenbach A. D. (2010) “Isolation of putative FOXO1 genomic elements using an improved in vitro technique to isolate genomic regulatory sequences” Gene 458: 45 – 53. 

Sidhu, A. Miller, P. J., and Hollenbach, A. D. (2010) “FOXO1 stimulates ceruloplasmin promoter activity in human hepatoma cells treated with IL-6” Biochem. Biophys, Res. Commun. 404: 963 – 7. 

Dietz, K. N., Miller, P. J., Iyengar, A. S., Loupe, J. M., and Hollenbach A. D. (2011) Identification of serines 201 and 209 as sites of Pax3 phosphorylation and the altered phosphorylation status of Pax3-FOXO1 during early myogenic differentiation. Int. J. Biochem. and Cell Biol. 43(6): 936 – 45. 

Non-peer reviewed journals:

Sidhu, A., Miller, P. J., and Hollenbach, A. D., “The in vitro PORE: An Improved Technique to Pull Out Regulatory Elements.” (2011) eLucidations (http://lucigen.com/store/in-vitro-pore-paper.html

Patents:

Hollenbach, A. D., and Johanson, K. E., “System for pulling out regulatory elements in yeast” (US patent number 7932030)

Hollenbach, A. D., and Sidhu, A., “System for pulling out regulatory elements in vitro” (patent pending, US patent application number 11697154) 

Hollenbach, A. D., Miller, P. J., and Dietz, K. N., “Phospho-specific anti-Pax3 antibodies” (patent pending, US patent application number 12477541)