Biography

In May, Tamara N. Alliston, PhD, was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery. Her research focuses on the molecular basis of arthritis and the molecular pathways that control the growth and differentiation of skeletal tissues.

Alliston received her BA in biology from Trinity University in Texas, then earned her PhD in Cell Biology from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. She became a post-doctoral scientst in Dr. Rik Derynck’s laboratory at UCSF, and was appointed Assistant Adjunct Professor at UCSF in 2002.

While a postdoc in Derynck’s lab, Alliston discovered that TGF-[beta] inhibits terminal osteoblast differentiation by repressing Runx-2, a transcriptional regulator. She has continued to study the molecular pathways that regulate TGF-[beta] in development and tumorigenesis. She continues to study TGF-[beta] and has recently identified the growth factor as a key regulator of bone matrix mechanical properties and composition.

Alliston plans to continue to combine molecular, cellular, physiological and materials science methods to investigate the control of mesenchymal stem cell differentiation and skeletal tissue function, convinced that this interdisciplinary approach will lead to methods to prevent musculoskeletal disease or improve skeletal repair.

Alliston has recently been awarded the Harold M. Frost Young Investigator Award and the John Haddad Young Investigator Award, presented by the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, recognizing her research contributions and her potential to advance research in bone biology in the future. She is also proud of the accomplishments of students she has mentored, who have received prestigious fellowships and awards for their research, including the UCSF School of Medicine Dean’s Prize in Student Research.

Career

Education

Research

• Arthritis Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship July 1999 - June 2002 "Transcriptional and functional regulation of CBFA1 by TGF-b, BMP's, and Smads in osteoblast differentiation."
• Hearing Research Inc. Award March 2005 - Feb 2006 "Investigating the role of TGF-b in bone disease-associated hearing loss."
• UCSF School of Dentistry Creativity Fund June 2005 - May 2006 "TGF-b and Runx2 control of bone matrix quality and bone function in cleidocranial dysplasia-associated hearing loss."Arthritis Foundation Arthritis Investigator Grant July 2002 - June 2007 "Functional regulation of CBFA1 by TGF-b in osteoblast differentiation."
• NIDCR RO3 Application April 2006 - March 2008 "TGF-b regulation of Runx2 in bone formation and quality."
• Hearing Research Inc. Award March 2006 - Feb 2007 "Determining the role of Runx2 in bone disease-associated hearing loss."

Publications

• Saeskow RL, Alliston TN, and JR Shinkle (1995) Absence of PhyB inhibits hypocotyl elongation in dark grown rh cucumber seedlings; an active role for PrB. Plant Cell and Environment. 18:831-835.
• Richards JS, Fitzpatrick SL, Clemens JW, Morris JK, Alliston TN, Sirois J. (1995) Ovarian cell differentiation: a cascade of multiple hormones, cellular signals, and regulated genes. Rec Progress in Hormone Res. 50:223-54.
• Alliston TN, Maiyar AC, Buse P, Firestone GL, and JS Richards (1997) Follicle stimulating hormone-regulated expression of serum/glucocorticoid-inducible kinase in rat ovarian granulosa cells: a functional role for the Sp1 family in promoter activity. Mol Endocrinol. 11:1934-1949.
• Richards JS, Russell DL, Robker RL, Dajee M, Alliston TN. (1998) Molecular mechanisms of ovulation and luteinization. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 145:47-54.
• Gonzalez-Robayna IJ, Alliston TN, Buse P, Firestone GL, Richards JS. (1999) Functional and subcellular changes in the A-kinase-signaling pathway: relation to aromatase and Sgk expression during the transition of granulosa cells to luteal cells. Mol Endocrinol. 13:1318-37.
• Alliston TN, Gonzalez-Robayna IJ, Buse P, Firestone GL, Richards JS. (2000) Expression and localization of serum/glucocorticoid-induced kinase in the rat ovary: relation to follicular growth and differentiation. Endocrinology. 141:385-95.
• Alliston TN, and Derynck R. (2000) TGF-beta in Skeletal Development and Maintenance. In Canalis, E, (ed.), Skeletal Growth Factors. Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, PA, pp 233 - 247.
• Alliston T, Choy L, Ducy P, Karsenty G, Derynck R. (2001) TGF-beta-induced repression of CBFA1 by Smad3 decreases cbfa1 and osteocalcin expression and inhibits osteoblast differentiation. EMBO J. 20:2254-2272.
• Alliston T, Derynck R. (2002) Interfering with bone remodelling. Nature. 416:686-7.
• Selvamurugan N, Kwok S, Alliston T, Reiss M, Partridge NC. (2004) Transforming growth factor-beta 1 regulation of collagenase-3 expression in osteoblastic cells by a cross-talk between smad and MAPK signaling pathways and their components, Smad2 and runx2. J Biol Chem. 279:19327-34.
• Alliston T, Ko TC, Cao Y, Liang Y-Y, Feng X-F, Chang C, and Derynck R. (2005) Repression of activin and BMP-inducible transcription by Evi-1. J Biol Chem. 280:24227-37.
• Kang J.S., Alliston T, Delston R, and Derynck R. (2005) Repression of Runx2 function by TGF-ﾲ through recruitment of class II histone deacetylases by Smad3. EMBO J. 24:2543-55.
• Balooch G, Balooch M, Nalla RK, Schilling S, Filvaroff EH, Ritchie RO, Marshall GW, Marshall SJ, Derynck R, and Alliston T. (2005) TGF-b signaling regulates the mechanical properties and composition of bone matrix. P.N.A.S. 102:18813-8.
• Derynck R., Choy, L., and Alliston T. (2006) Smads in mesenchymal differentiation. In ten Dijke, P. and Heldin, CH. (ed.) The Smad Family. (In press).

Presentations

• Cell Biology Graduate Student Symposium, Houston, TX, 1994, 1997
• RIKEN Institute - Tsukuba Life Science Center, Tsukuba, Japan, 1995
• 29th Annual Meeting, Society for the Study of Reproduction, London, Ontario, 1996
• Trinity University Biology Department, San Antonio, TX, 1997
• 38th Annual National Student Research Forum, Galveston, TX, 1997
• Stanford Womens Club, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, San Francisco, CA, 2002
• UCSF Oral and Craniofacial Sciences Retreat, San Francisco, CA, 2003
• UCSF Dept. of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, San Francisco, CA, 2004
• 86th Annual Endocrine Society Meeting, New Orleans, LA, 2004
• Scios, Inc., Fremont, CA, 2005
• Arthritis Research Conference, Atlanta, GA, 2005
• UCSF Mesenchymal Biology Club, Inaugural Seminar, San Francisco, C, 2005