Michael Freeley
Assoc. Prof
Michael Freeley is an Associate Professor at Dublin City University (DCU). He obtained a first class honours degree in Biotechnology from DCU and subsequently graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) with a PhD in Biochemistry and Immunology. His PhD thesis investigated the role of Protein Kinase C isoforms in T-cell activation. After working in RCSI as a postdoctoral researcher for two years, he took up the position of Research Fellow in Trinity College Dublin where he investigated the molecular mechanisms of T-cell activation and migration. In addition to this, he served as Course Coordinator of the Ph.D. training programme in Molecular Medicine and Course Coordinator/Lecturer on the M.Sc. in Molecular Medicine programme.
Michael joined DCU as a Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences in 2016, where in addition to teaching and conducting research, his responsibilities also involved serving as Programme Chair of the M.Sc. in Biomedical Diagnostics programme. He led the development of the new M.Sc. in Diagnostics and Precision Medicine programme which commenced in September 2018 and served as Programme Chair until 2024. He was promoted to Assistant Professor in May 2019 and subsequently to Associate Professor in April 2023. He currently serves as Teaching Convenor in the School of Biotechnology.
Book Chapter
Peer Reviewed Journal
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | freeley m; foran e; long a (2022) 'L-plastin Expression in HCT 116 Colorectal Cells Increases Migration and ROS in an NADPH Oxidase-Dependent Manner'. Journal of Carcinogenesis, . [DOI] | |
| 2021 | Quilty, F.; Freeley, M.; Gargan, S.; Gilmer, J.; Long, A. (2021) 'Deoxycholic acid induces proinflammatory cytokine production by model oesophageal cells via lipid rafts'. Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 214 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2018 | Dunne PJ, Maher CO, Freeley M, Dunne K, Petrasca A, Orikiiriza J, Dunne MR, Reidy D, O'Dea S, Loy A, Woo J, Long A, Rogers TR, Mulcahy F, Doherty DG. (2018) 'CD3ε Expression Defines Functionally Distinct Subsets of Vδ1 T Cells in Patients With Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection'. Journal of Immunology, 9 . | |
| 2018 | Day JP; Whiteley E; Freeley M; Long A; Malacrida B; Kiely P; Baillie GS; (2018) 'RAB40C regulates RACK1 stability via the ubiquitin-proteasome system'. Future Science Oa, 4 (7). [DOI] | |
| 2016 | Aherne, S.T.; Smyth, P.; Freeley, M.; Smith, L.; Spillane, C.; O'Leary, J.; Sheils, O. (2016) 'Altered expression of MIR-222 and MIR-25 influences diverse gene expression changes in transformed normal and anaplastic thyroid cells, and impacts on MEK and TRAIL protein expression'. International Journal of Molecular Medicine, 38 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2016 | Smith SM; Freeley M; Moynagh PN; Kelleher DP; (2016) 'Differential modulation of Helicobacter pylori lipopolysaccharide-mediated TLR2 signaling by individual Pellino proteins'. Helicobacter, . [DOI] | |
| 2016 | Verma NK; Fazil MH; Ong ST; Chalasani ML; Low JH; Kottaiswamy A; P P; Kizhakeyil A; Kumar S; Panda AK; Freeley M; Smith SM; Boehm BO; Kelleher D; (2016) 'LFA-1/ICAM-1 Ligation in Human T Cells Promotes Th1 Polarization through a GSK3β Signaling-Dependent Notch Pathway'. Journal of Immunology, 197 (1). [DOI] | |
| 2015 | Molloy B; Freeley M; Long A; McManus R; (2015) 'Candidate Gene Knockdown in Celiac Disease'. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 1326 . [DOI] | |
| 2015 | Freeley M; Derrick E; Dempsey E; Hoff A; Davies A; Leake D; Vermeulen A; Kelleher D; Long A; (2015) 'RNAi Screening with Self-Delivering, Synthetic siRNAs for Identification of Genes That Regulate Primary Human T Cell Migration'. Journal of Biomolecular Screening, 20 (8). [DOI] | |
| 2014 | Long A; Freeley M; (2014) 'Protein kinase C: a regulator of cytoskeleton remodelling and T-cell migration'. Biochemical Society Transactions, 42 (6). [DOI] | |
| 2014 | Ong ST; Freeley M; Skubis-Zegadło J; Fazil MH; Kelleher D; Fresser F; Baier G; Verma NK; Long A; (2014) 'Phosphorylation of Rab5a protein by protein kinase Cϵ is crucial for T-cell migration'. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 289 (28). [DOI] | |
| 2013 | Byrne G; Freeley M; Feighery C; Whelan A; Long A; (2013) 'Protein kinase C delta is a substrate of tissue transglutaminase and a novel autoantigen in coeliac disease'. Clinical Immunology, 147 (1). [DOI] | |
| 2013 | Freeley M; Long A; (2013) 'Advances in siRNA delivery to T-cells: potential clinical applications for inflammatory disease, cancer and infection'. Biochemical Journal, 455 (2). [DOI] | |
| 2013 | Freeley M; Long A; (2013) 'The two hit hypothesis: an improved method for siRNA-mediated gene silencing in stimulated primary human T cells'. Journal of Immunological Methods, 396 (1-2). [DOI] | |
| 2012 | Freeley M; Long A; (2012) 'Regulating the Regulator: Phosphorylation of PKC θ in T Cells'. Frontiers in Immunology, 3 . [DOI] | |
| 2012 | Freeley M; O'Dowd F; Paul T; Kashanin D; Davies A; Kelleher D; Long A; (2012) 'L-plastin regulates polarization and migration in chemokine-stimulated human T lymphocytes'. Journal of Immunology, 188 (12). [DOI] | |
| 2011 | Verma NK; Dempsey E; Freeley M; Botting CH; Long A; Kelleher D; Volkov Y; (2011) 'Analysis of dynamic tyrosine phosphoproteome in LFA-1 triggered migrating T-cells'. Journal of Cellular Physiology, 226 (6). [DOI] | |
| 2011 | Freeley M; Kelleher D; Long A; (2011) 'Regulation of Protein Kinase C function by phosphorylation on conserved and non-conserved sites'. Cellular Signalling, 23 (5). [DOI] | |
| 2011 | Petrovic, D.; Stamataki, Z.; Dempsey, E.; Golden-Mason, L.; Freeley, M.; Doherty, D.; Prichard, D.; Keogh, C.; Conroy, J.; Mitchell, S.; Volkov, Y.; Mckeating, J.A.; O'Farrelly, C.; Kelleher, D.; Long, A. (2011) 'Hepatitis C virus targets the T cell secretory machinery as a mechanism of immune evasion'. Hepatology, 53 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2010 | Freeley M; Bakos G; Davies A; Kelleher D; Long A; Dunican DJ; (2010) 'A high-content analysis toolbox permits dissection of diverse signaling pathways for T lymphocyte polarization'. Journal of Biomolecular Screening, 15 (5). [DOI] | |
| 2007 | Freeley M; Park J; Yang KJ; Wange RL; Volkov Y; Kelleher D; Long A; (2007) 'Loss of PTEN expression does not contribute to PDK-1 activity and PKC activation-loop phosphorylation in Jurkat leukaemic T cells'. Cellular Signalling, 19 (12). [DOI] | |
| 2006 | Gruber T; Freeley M; Thuille N; Heit I; Shaw S; Long A; Baier G; (2006) 'Comment on PDK1 nucleates T cell receptor-induced signaling complex for NF-kappaB activation'. Science, 312 (5770). [DOI] | |
| 2006 | Volkov, Y.; Long, A.; Freeley, M.; Golden-Mason, L.; O'Farrelly, C.; Murphy, A.; Kelleher, D. (2006) 'The hepatitis C envelope 2 protein inhibits LFA-1-transduced protein kinase C signaling for T-lymphocyte migration'. Gastroenterology, 130 . [Link] [DOI] | |
| 2006 | Hazenberg JG; Freeley M; Foran E; Lee TC; Taylor D; (2006) 'Microdamage: a cell transducing mechanism based on ruptured osteocyte processes'. Journal of Biomechanics, 39 (11). [DOI] | |
| 2005 | Fanning A; Volkov Y; Freeley M; Kelleher D; Long A; (2005) 'CD44 cross-linking induces protein kinase C-regulated migration of human T lymphocytes'. International Immunology, 17 (4). [DOI] | |
| 2005 | Freeley M; Volkov Y; Kelleher D; Long A; (2005) 'Stimulus-induced phosphorylation of PKC theta at the C-terminal hydrophobic-motif in human T lymphocytes'. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 334 (2). [DOI] |
Other Publication
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Freeley, M (2019) Current postgraduate training programs and online courses in precision medicine. [DOI] |
Honors and Awards
Employment
Research Interests
Research interests:
The Freeley laboratory aims to understand the molecular basis of T-cell-driven inflammatory diseases including Atopic Dermatitis, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Multiple Sclerosis and how this knowledge could be used to develop therapeutic strategies to block T-cell function. This has led to successful collaborations and funding awards from the internationally-recognised pharmaceutical company Almirall (who investigate inflammatory skin diseases including Atopic Dermatitis) and Atomwise (San Francisco) who in collaboration with the Freeley lab developed and screened a library of small molecule compounds through Atomwise’s proprietary Artificial Intelligence drug screening technology to target an intracellular protein complex that plays an important role in T-cell activation and migration into the Central Nervous System (a pathological cause of Multiple Sclerosis). In addition, the Freeley lab is looking at new ways in which to genetically engineer T-cells so that they can recognise cancer cells and this work is currently funded through the Irish Research Council in collaboration with Prof Helen McCarthy at Queen’s University Belfast.
Michael invites expressions of interest from students and research scientists who wish to join his lab group and who are interested in a career in T cell research.