Research Interests

Molecular Mechanisms of Aging and Cancer Initiation and Progression

Grants & Fellowships

• Department of Defense - Army, Breast Cancer IDEA Award, 2004-2006
• Department of Defense - Army, Prostate Cancer New Investigator Award, 2001-2005
• Department of Defense - Army, Breast Cancer IDEA Award (Co-Invest.), 2001-2004
• Department of Defense - Army, Breast Cancer Concept Award, 2001-2002
• The Mary Kay Charitable Foundation, Dallas, TX, 2000-2002
• Commonwealth Health Research Board (Co-Invest.), Richmond, VA, 2000-2001
• Massey Cancer Center, Pilot Projects, VCU/MCV, Richmond, VA, 1999-2000
• Jeffress Memorial Trust, Richmond, VA, 1999-2000
• Aid Grant IN-105, American Cancer Society, VCU/MCV, Richmond, VA, 1998-1999
• American Society for Virology Travel Grant, 1993
• Minigrant, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 1993
• NRSA Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, The National Institute on Aging, 1996-1998

Education

B.A. in Biology 1985-1989
The Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO 

PhD in Genetics 1989-1994
Texas A&M University, College Station, TX
Dissertation: Sequence determinants for DNA binding specificity and transient DNA replication by the BPV-1 E1 protein; Major Professor: Van G. Wilson, PhD 

Postdoctoral Training 1994-1998
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX
Sponsors: Jerry W. Shay, PhD and Woodring E. Wright, MD, PhD

Awards
The V Foundation Scholars Program, Cary, NC, 2000-2002
Outstanding Presenter, Research Symposium, Texas A&M Health Science Center, College Station, TX 1994
Outstanding Graduate Student Government Member, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 1994

Professional and Community Service

• Member, Eukaryotic Genetics Panel, National Science Foundation, 2005-present
• Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Pathology, VCU, 2003-present
• Member, AFAR National Scientific Advisory Council, 2003-present
• Chair, Pathology Grand Rounds Committee, VCU, 1999-present
• Member, Functional Genomics Program, VCU, 2000-present
• Member, Medical Genetics Review Panel, Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program, Washington DC, 2001-present
• Student committees (total of 12 overall), 1998-present
• Coach-soccer, baseball, basketball; Chesterfield County, VA, 2000-present
• President, Hampton Park Board of Directors, Chesterfield, VA, 2001-present

Professional Organizations

• American Society for Virology (member since 1992)
• American Society for Microbiology (member since 1995)
• Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine (member since 1999)
• American Association for Cancer Research (member since 1995)
• The Gerontological Society of America (member since 1999)
• Cell Stress Society International (member since 2002)

Recent Publications

Compton, S.A., L.W.Elmore, K.Haydu, C.K.Jackson-Cook and S.E.Holt. 2005. Induction of NOS-Dependent Telomere Shortening after Functional Inhibition of Hsp90 in Human Tumor Cells. Molecular and Cellular Biology, in press.

Lai,G.H., Z.Zhang. X.N.Shen, D.J.Ward, J.L.DeWitt, S.E.Holt, R.A.Rozich, D.C.Hixson, and A.E.Sirica. 2005. erbB2/neu transformed rat cholangiocytes recapitulate key cellular and molecular features of human bile duct cancer. Gastroenterology, 129:2047-2057.

JonesK.R., L.W.Elmore, L.Povirk, S.E.Holt, and D.A.Gewirtz. 2005. Reciprocal regulation of senescence and apoptosis in response to radiation in the breast tumor cell. International Journal of Radiation Biology, 81:445-458.

Elmore,L.W., X.Di, Y.M.Di, S.E.Holt, and D.A.Gewirtz. 2005. Evasion of chemotherapy-induced senescence in breast cancer cell: implications for treatment response. Clin. Cancer Res. 11:2637-43.

McChesney,P.A., L.W.Elmore, and S.E.Holt. 2005. Vertebrate Marine Species as Model Systems for Studying Telomeres and Telomerase. Zebrafish, 1:349-355.

Leach,N.T., C.Rehder C, K.Jensen K, S.Holt, and C.Jackson-Cook. 2004. Human chromosomes with shorter telomeres and large heterochromatin regions have a higher frequency of acquired somatic cell aneuploidy. Mech Aging Dev. 125:563-73.

McChesney,P.A., K.C.Turner, L.W.Elmore, C.K.Jackson-Cook, and S.E.Holt. 2004. Telomerase resets the homeostatic telomere length and prevents telomere dysfunction in immortalized human cells. DNA and Cell Biology 23:293-300.

Wise,S.S., L.W.Elmore, P.G.Antonucci, S.E.Holt, B.H.Bryant, J.P.Wise. 2004. Telomerase-mediated lifespan extension of human bronichal cells does not affect hexavalent chromium-induced cytotoxicity or genotoxicity. Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry 255:103-111.

Nguyen,B., L.W.Elmore, and S.E.Holt. 2003. Telomerase as a target for cancer immunotherapy. Cancer Biol & Ther 2:131-136.

Elmore,L.W., C.W.Rehder, M.Di, P.A.McChesney, C.K.Jackson-Cook, D.A.Gewirtz, and S.E.Holt. 2002. Adriamycin-induced replicative senescence in tumor cells requires functional p53 and telomere dysfunction. J. Biol. Chem. 277:35509-35515.

Elmore,L.W. K.C.Turner, L.S.Gollahon, M.R.Landon, C.K.Jackson-Cook, and S.E.Holt. 2002. Telomerase protects cancer-prone cells from chromosomal instability and spontaneous immortalization. Cancer Bio & Ther 1:395-401.

Elmore,L.W., H.L.Forsythe, A.Ferreira-Gonzalez, C.T.Garrett, G.M.Clark, and S.E.Holt. 2002. Real-Time Quantitative Analysis of Telomerase Activity in Breast Tumor Specimens using a Highly Specific and Sensitive Fluroescent-based Assay. Diagnostic Molecular Pathology 11:177-185.

Harvey,S.A., K.O.Jensen, L.W.Elmore, and S.E.Holt. 2002. Pharmacological approaches to defining the role of chaperones in aging and prostate cancer progression. Cell Stress and Chaperones 7:230-234.

Akalin,A., L.W.Elmore H.L.Forsythe, B.A.Amaker, E.D.McCollum, P.S.Nelson, J.L.Ware, and S.E.Holt. 2001. A novel mechanism for chaperone-mediated telomerase regulation during prostate cancer progression. Cancer Research. 61:4791-4796.

Forsythe,H.L. J.L.Jarvis, J.W.Turner, L.W.Elmore, and S.E.Holt. 2001. Stable association of hsp90 and p23 with human telomerase. J Biol. Chem. 276:15571-15574.

Elmore,L.W. and S.E.Holt. 2000. Telomerase and telomere stability: A new class of tumor suppressor? Molecular Carcinogenesis 28:1-4.

Ouellette,M., M.Liao, B.Shea-Herbert, M.Johnson, S.E.Holt, H.S.Liss, J.W.Shay, and W.E.Wright. 2000. Subsenescent Telomere Lengths in Fibroblasts Immortalized by Limiting Amounts of Telomerase. Journal of Biological Chemistry 275:10072-10076.

Savre-Train,I., L.S.Gollahon, and S.E.Holt. 2000. Clonal heterogeneity in telomerase activity and telomere length in tumor-derived cell lines. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology & Medicine 223:379-388.

Tesmer,V.M., L.P.Ford, S.E.Holt, B.C.Frank, X.Yi, D.L.Aisner, M.Ouellette, J.W.Shay, and W.E.Wright. 1999. Two inactive fragments of the integral RNA cooperate to assemble active telomerase with the human protein catalytic subunit (hTERT) in vitro. Molecular and Cellular Biology 19:6207-6216.

Holt,S.E. and J.W.Shay. 1999. The role of telomerase in cellular proliferation and cancer. Journal of Cellular Physiology 180:10-18.

Holt,S.E., V.M.Tesmer, D.L.Aisner, J.Baur, M.Dy, M.Ouellette, D.O.Toft, J.B.Trager, G.B.Morin, W.E.Wright, J.W.Shay, and M.A.White. 1999. Functional requirement of p23 and hsp90 in telomerase complexes. Genes and Development 13:817-82

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Updated February 6, 2008