Research Biographies

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DR COLIN SEMPLE

Biomedical Systems Analysis

Senior Investigator Scientist - Head of Bioinformatics


Colin Semple

Contact Details

E-mail address: colin.semple@hgu.mrc.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)131 332 2471 (extension 4034)
Fax: +44 (0)131 467 8456
Address: Medical Research Council
Human Genetics Unit
Western General Hospital
Crewe Road
Edinburgh EH4 2XU
Research Programme: Regulatory Genomics in Evolution and Disease

Research Areas

My interests are in using the huge volumes of genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic data to shed light on human evolution and disease. We carry out novel research in computational biology, often using comparative genomics to examine the molecular evolution of genes and genomes. Current projects include the evolution of noncoding DNA in primates and the role of the epigenomic landscape in human genome evolution. We also have long standing interests in computational candidate gene prioritization for disease or QTL mapping. However, we also collaborate with 'wet' lab biologists on diverse projects, from projects in cell and developmental biology to whole genome disease association studies.


Key/Selected Publications

  • Prendergast, J.G.; Campbell, H.; Gilbert, N.; Dunlop, M.G.; Bickmore, W.A. and Semple, C.A. Chromatin structure and evolution in the human genome. BMC Evol Biol 7:72, 2007
    PubMed Abstract
  • Carninci, P.; Sandelin, A.; Lenhard, B.; Katayama, S.; Shimokawa, K.; Ponjavic, J.; Semple, C.A.; Taylor, M.S.; Engstrom, P.G.; Frith, M.C. et al. Genome-wide analysis of mammalian promoter architecture and evolution. Nat Genet 38:626-635, 2006 PubMed Abstract
  • Taylor, M.S.; Kai, C.; Kawai, J.; Carninci, P.; Hayashizaki, Y. and Semple C.A. Heterotachy in mammalian promoter evolution. PLOS Genetics 2(4):e30, 2006 PubMed Abstracts
  • Turner, F.S.; Clutterbuck, D.R.; Semple, C.A.M. POCUS: mining genomic sequence annotation to predict disease genes. Genome Biology 4:R75, 2003 PubMed Abstract

Recent Publications

  • White RE, Dickinson JR, Semple CA, Powell DJ, Berry C: The retroviral proteinase active site and the N-terminus of Ddi1 are required for repression of protein secretion. FEBS Lett 585:139-142, 2011. PubMed Abstract
  • Diez-Roux G, Banfi S, Sultan M, Geffers L, Anand S, Rozado D, Magen A, Canidio E, Pagani M, Peluso I, Lin-Marq N, Koch M, Bilio M, Cantiello I, Verde R, De Masi C, Bianchi SA, Cicchini J, Perroud E, Mehmeti S, Dagand E, Schrinner S, Nurnberger A, Schmidt K, Metz K, Zwingmann C, Brieske N, Springer C, Hernandez AM, Herzog S, Grabbe F, Sieverding C, Fischer B, Schrader K, Brockmeyer M, Dettmer S, Helbig C, Alunni V, Battaini MA, Mura C, Henrichsen CN, Garcia-Lopez R, Echevarria D, Puelles E, Garcia-Calero E, Kruse S, Uhr M, Kauck C, Feng G, Milyaev N, Ong CK, Kumar L, Lam M, Semple CA, Gyenesei A, Mundlos S, Radelof U, Lehrach H, Sarmientos P, Reymond A, Davidson DR, Dolle P, Antonarakis SE, Yaspo ML, Martinez S, Baldock RA, Eichele G, Ballabio A: A high-resolution anatomical atlas of the transcriptome in the mouse embryo. PLoS Biol 9:e1000582, 2011. PubMed Abstract
  • Andersen, K.M.; Madsen, L.; Prag, S.; Johnsen, A.H.; Semple, C.A.; Hendil, K.B. and Hartmann-Petersen, R. Thioredoxin Txnl1/TRP32 is a redox active co-factor of the 26S proteasome. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 284(22):15246-54, 2009 PubMed Abstract
  • FANTOM Consortium: Suzuki, H.; Forrest, A.R.; van Nimwegen, E.; .....Semple, C.A.;....and Hayashizaki, Y. The transcriptional network that controls growth arrest and differentiation in a human myeloid leukemia cell line. Nat Genet 41(5):553-562, 2009 PubMed Abstract
  • Madsen, L.; Seeger, M.; Semple, C.A. and Hartmann-Petersen, R. New ATPase regulators--p97 goes to the PUB. Int.J Biochem.Cell Biol 41(12):2380-2388, 2009 PubMed Abstract
  • Semple, C.A. and Taylor, M.S. Molecular biology: The structure of change. Science 323:347-348, 2009 PubMed Abstract
  • Taylor, M.S; Jordan, G. and Semple, C.A. Comparative genomics and mammalian promoter evolution. In: Cap-analysis gene expression (CAGE): The Science of Decoding Gene Transcription.
    Carninci, P.(Ed.) 209-222, 2009
  • Michlewski, G.; Guil, S.; Semple, C.A. and Caceres, J.F. Posttranscriptional regulation of miRNAs harboring conserved terminal loops. Mol Cell 32:383-393, 2008 PubMed Abstract
  • Taylor, M.S.; Massingham, T.; Hayashizaki, Y.; Carninci, P.; Goldman, N. and Semple, C.A. Rapidly evolving human promoter regions. Nat Genet 40:1262-1263, 2008 PubMed Abstract