Allan


Douglas Allan

Professor

Cellular & Physiological Sciences
Faculty of Medicine

Member, Cell & Developmental Biology Research Group (Life Sciences Institute)
Full Member, Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health

Postdoc: Harvard Medical School (2000-2005)
PhD: University of Alberta (1994-2000)
MSc: Aberdeen University, Scotland (1992-93)
BSc (Hon): Aberdeen University (1988-1992)

Email: doug.allan@ubc.ca
Phone: 778-235-3555
Website: https://www.douglasallanlab.com/

Research Interests
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Gene regulation in neurons

Complex nervous system function depends upon the generation of many different subtypes of neurons during development, and then lifelong modulation of synaptic function by trans-synaptic communication. We study the transcriptional mechanisms controlling gene expression programs that establish neuronal identity and modulate synaptic function in response to retrograde signals form the synapse. Ongoing projects explore how retrograde BMP signaling from the neuromuscular junction intersects with intrinsic transcription factors in motor neurons to direct synaptic growth and homeostasis. Disruption of transcription factors has been linked to congenital neurological disorders, and disruption of intercellular communication and trafficking of target-derived signals has been implicated in neurodegenerative disorders. Our studies provide a mechanistic understanding of how these factors control gene expression pertinent to neuronal function, advancing our understanding of the aetiology of neurological disorders.

Clinical interpretation of human gene variants in the Drosophila model 

Next-generation sequencing has made genetic variant discovery routine clinical practice. However, interpreting the functional consequence of identified variants is challenging. Drosophila offers advantages for scalable clinical variant interpretation. While different on a gross anatomical level, human and Drosophila organ systems and molecular pathways are conserved. Drosophila offers detailed information on genetic and protein interactions for thousands of genes, as well as a versatile and cost-effective suite of molecular genetic tools that makes gene variant analysis highly tractable. Ongoing projects are developingDrosophila assays to interpret the pathogenicity of gene variants for numerous human diseases

Selected Publications
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  1. Chen E et al. Revealing function-altering MECP2 mutations in individuals with autism spectrum disorder using yeast and Drosophila. Genetics 231.1. iyaf121. 2025
  2. Cyrus SS, Medina Giró S, Lian T, Allan DW*, Gibson WT*. Functional analysis of human EED variants using Drosophila. Genetics 231.1.iyaf20. 2025
  3. Vaikakkara Chithran A, Allan DW, O’Connor TP. Adult expression of the cell adhesion protein Fasciclin 3 is required for the maintenance of adult olfactory interneurons. Journal of Cell Science. 137.12. jcs261759. 2024
  4. Vaikakkara Chithran A, Allan DW, O’Connor TP. Adult expression of Semaphorins and Plexins is essential for motor neuron survival. Scientific Reports 13 (1), 5894. 2023
  5. Vuilleumier R, Miao M, Giro SM, Flibotte S, Lian T, Collins A, Ly S, Pyrowolakis G, Haghighi P, Allan DW. Dichotomous regulatory motifs mediate the maturation of the neuromuscular junction by retrograde BMP signaling. Nucleic Acids Research. 50 (17), 9748-9764. 2022
  6. Ganguly P, Madonsela L, Chao JT, Loewen JR, O’Connor TP, Verheyen EM, Allan DW. A scalable Drosophila assay for clinical interpretation of human PTEN variants in suppression of PI3K/AKT induced cellular proliferation. PLoS Genetics. 17:9, e1009774. 2021 
  7. Berndt AJE, Lian T, Cho RY, Fong JS, Hur SA, Othonos KM, Allan DW. A low affinity cis-regulatory BMP response element restricts target gene activation to subsets of Drosophila neurons. eLife. 9. e59650. 2020
  8. Post et al., Multi-model functionalization of disease-associated PTEN missense mutations identifies multiple molecular mechanisms underlying protein dysfunction. Nature Communications. 11(1) 2073. 2020
  9. Vuilleumier R, Lian T, Flibotte S, Khan Z, Fuchs A, Pyrowolakis G, Allan DW. Retrograde BMP signaling activates neuronal gene expression through widespread deployment of a conserved BMP-responsive cis-regulatory activation element.  Nucleic Acids Research 47 (2), 679-699. 2019

Further publications can be found here.