Prof. Andrew Pask

The Pask Lab researches a variety of topics encompassing evolution, development and reproduction.

Research

• Mammalian skull development and evolution
  research, Newto...
• Cane toad toxin resistance

  Engineering resistance to bufotoxin

  research, Frank...
• Gonadal development
  research
• Penis development and hypospadias

  Hypospadias is a disorder of penis development that occurs in about 1% of male births and its incidence is increasing at an alarming rate. One potential cause is environmental endocrine disruptors, chemicals we are constantly exposed to in our everyday lives. They are found in everything from plastic packaging to fresh fruit and vegetables, cosmetics and furniture. It is virtually …

  research
• Fat-tailed dunnart

  Dunnart developmental, reproductive and stem cell biology

  research, Newto...
• Thylacine convergent evolution

  The thylacine was a large carnivorous marsupial that displayed many similarities with other large carnivorous canids, such as dogs and wolves, representing a remarkable case of convergent evolution in mammals. The Pask lab seeks to determine the underlying genetic basis of their similarities, with an emphasis on non-coding genetic elements driving development of the skull. See more of our research here

  research, Newto...

Lab news

• New study on thylacine wolf convergence

  Hot off the press! Our newest study is live, examining the molecular basis of convergent craniofacial evolution between the thylacine and canids. See the full article here!        
• News

  UoM Pursuit news

Current research themes in the Pask Lab include:

Hypospadias and penis development

Gonadal differentiation

Convergent evolution of the thylacine and canids

The fat-tailed dunnart

Cane toad toxin resistance

Lab Head

Prof. Andrew Pask

Collaborators

Dr Stephen Frankenberg

Research Associates

Dr Deidre Mattiske

Dr Gerard Tarulli

Dr Axel Newton

Dr Brandon Menzies

Dr Luke Govers

PhD Students

Laura Cook

Ashlee Hutchinson

Sam Cripps

Ebony Ciarrocchi

Tiffany Moreland

Rachael Rogers

Masters Students

Honours Students

Kate Fowler

Jemimah Giles-Cook

Charlotte Hall

Patrick Tatt

Alumni

Marci Chai

Baris Girgin

Rhys Howlett

Zoe Koroneos

Richard Moore

Kael Schoffer

Lucy Stewart

Dr Melanie Stewart

2021

Tarulli GA, Cripps SM, Pask AJ, Renfree MB. Spatiotemporal map of key signalling factors during early penis development. Dev Dyn. 2021 Oct 25. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.433. Online ahead of print.

Stewart MK, Bernard P, Ang CS, Mattiske DM, Pask AJ. Oestrogen Activates the MAP3K1 Cascade and β-Catenin to Promote Granulosa-like Cell Fate in a Human Testis-Derived Cell Line. Int J Mol Sci. 2021 Sep 17;22(18):10046. doi: 10.3390/ijms221810046.PMID: 34576208

2020

Newton AH, Pask AJ.Evolution and expansion of the RUNX2 QA repeat corresponds with the emergence of vertebrate complexity. . Commun Biol. 2020 Dec 15;3(1):771. doi: 10.1038/s42003-020-01501-3. Erratum in: Commun Biol. 2021 Jan
25;4(1):133. PMID: 33319865; PMCID: PMC7738678.

Newton AH, Pask AJ. CHD9 upregulates RUNX2 and has a potential role in skeletal evolution. BMC Mol Cell Biol. 2020 Apr 15;21(1):27. doi:10.1186/s12860-020-00270-5. PMID: 32295522; PMCID: PMC7161146.

Aulsebrook LC, Bertram MG, Martin JM, Aulsebrook AE, Brodin T, Evans JP, Hall MD, O’Bryan MK, Pask AJ, Tyler CR, Wong BBM. Reproduction in a polluted world: implications for wildlife. Reproduction. 2020 Aug;160(2):R13-R23. doi:10.1530/REP-20-0154. PMID: 32442963.

Stewart MK, Mattiske DM, Pask AJ. Oestrogen regulates SOX9 bioavailability by rapidly activating ERK1/2 and stabilising microtubules in a human testis-derived cell line. Exp Cell Res. 2021 Jan 15;398(2):112405. doi:10.1016/j.yexcr.2020.112405. Epub 2020 Nov 30. PMID: 33271127.

Stewart MK, Mattiske DM, Pask AJ. Exogenous Oestrogen Impacts Cell Fate Decision in the Developing Gonads: A Potential Cause of Declining Human Reproductive Health. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Nov 8;21(21):8377. doi:10.3390/ijms21218377. PMID: 33171657; PMCID: PMC7664701.

Stewart MK, Mattiske DM, Pask AJ. Estrogen suppresses SOX9 and activates markers of female development in a human testis-derived cell line. BMC Mol Cell Biol. 2020 Sep 15;21(1):66. doi: 10.1186/s12860-020-00307-9. PMID: 32933467;PMCID: PMC7493336.

Tarulli GA, Pask AJ, Renfree MB. Discrete Hedgehog Factor Expression and Action in the Developing Phallus. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 Feb 12;21(4):1237. doi:10.3390/ijms21041237. PMID: 32059607; PMCID: PMC7072906.

Paranjpe M, Yu H, Franke

nberg S, Pask AJ, Shaw G, Renfree MB. Transcriptomic Analysis of MAP3K1 and MAP3K4 in the Developing Marsupial Gonad. Sex Dev. 2019;13(4):195-204. doi: 10.1159/000505799. Epub 2020 Feb 1. PMID: 32008010.

Mattiske D, Behringer RR, Overbeek PA, Pask AJ. A novel long non-coding RNA, Leat1, causes reduced anogenital distance and fertility in female mice. Differentiation. 2020 Mar-Apr;112:1-6. doi: 10.1016/j.diff.2019.10.007. Epub 2019 Dec 4. PMID: 31830612.

Feigin CY, New

ton AH, Pask AJ. Widespread cis-regulatory convergence between the extinct Tasmanian tiger and gray wolf. Genome Res. 2019 Oct;29(10):1648-1658. doi: 10.1101/gr.244251.118. Epub 2019 Sep 18. PMID: 31533979; PMCID: PMC6771401.

Cripps SM, Mattiske DM, Black JR, Risbridger GP, Govers LC, Phillips TR, Pask AJ. A loss of estrogen signaling in the aromatase deficient mouse penis results in mild hypospadias. Differentiation. 2019 Sep-Oct;109:42-52. doi:10.1016/j.diff.2019.09.001. Epub 2019 Sep 6. PMID: 31520742.

Govers LC, Harper AP, Finger BJ, Mattiske DM, Pask AJ, Green MP. Atrazine induces penis abnormalities including hypospadias in mice. J Dev Orig Health Dis. 2020 Jun;11(3):246-249. doi: 10.1017/S2040174419000473. Epub 2019 Sep 2. PMID: 31475654; PMCID: PMC7050384.
Royall AH, Frankenberg S, Pask AJ, Holland PWH. Of eyes and embryos: subfunctionalization of the CRX homeobox gene in mammalian evolution. Proc Biol Sci. 2019 Jul 24;286(1907):20190830. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0830. Epub 2019 Jul 24. PMID: 31337308; PMCID: PMC6661347.

Govers LC, Phillips TR, Mattiske DM, Rashoo N, Black JR, Sinclair A, Baskin LS, Risbridger GP, Pask AJ. A critical role for estrogen signaling in penis development. FASEB J. 2019 Sep;33(9):10383-10392. doi: 10.1096/fj.201802586RR. Epub 2019 Jun 21. PMID: 31225966; PMCID: PMC6704459.

2019

Feigin CY, Newton AH, Pask AJ. Widespread cis-regulatory convergence between the extinct Tasmanian tiger and gray wolf. Genome Res. 2019 Sep 18. doi: 10.1101/gr.244251.118.

Cripps SM, Mattiske DM, Black JR, Risbridger GP, Govers LC, Phillips TR, Pask AJ. A loss of estrogen signaling in the aromatase deficient mouse penis results in mild hypospadias. Differentiation. 2019 Sep 6;109:42-52. doi: 10.1016/j.diff.2019.09.001. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31520742.

Govers LC, Harper AP, Finger BJ, Mattiske DM, Pask AJ, Green MP. Atrazine induces penis abnormalities including hypospadias in mice. J Dev Orig Health Dis. 2019 Sep 2:1-4. doi: 10.1017/S2040174419000473. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 31475654.

Royall AH, Frankenberg S, Pask AJ, Holland PWH. Of eyes and embryos: subfunctionalization of the CRX homeobox gene in mammalian evolution. Proc Biol Sci. 2019 Jul 24;286(1907):20190830. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0830. Epub 2019 Jul 24. PubMed PMID: 31337308; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6661347.

Govers LC, Phillips TR, Mattiske DM, Rashoo N, Black JR, Sinclair A, Baskin LS, Risbridger GP, Pask AJ. A critical role for estrogen signaling in penis development. FASEB J. 2019 Sep;33(9):10383-10392. doi: 10.1096/fj.201802586RR. Epub 2019 Jun 21. PubMed PMID: 31225966; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6704459.

Cook LE, Finger BJ, Green MP, Pask AJ. Exposure to atrazine during puberty reduces sperm viability, increases weight gain and alters the expression of key metabolic genes in the liver of male mice. Reprod Fertil Dev. 2019 Apr;31(5):920-931. doi: 10.1071/RD18505. PubMed PMID: 30636190.

2018

Chen Y, Kuroki Y, Shaw G, Pask AJ, Yu H, Toyoda A, Fujiyama A, Renfree MB. Androgen and Oestrogen Affect the Expression of Long Non-Coding RNAs During Phallus Development in a Marsupial. Noncoding RNA. 2018 Dec 30;5(1). pii: E3. doi: 10.3390/ncrna5010003. PubMed PMID: 30598023; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6468475.

Ishihara T, Hickford D, Shaw G, Pask AJ, Renfree MB. DNA methylation dynamics in the germline of the marsupial tammar wallaby, Macropus eugenii. DNA Res. 2019 Feb 1;26(1):85-94. doi: 10.1093/dnares/dsy040. PubMed PMID: 30535324; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6379045.

Chen Y, Yu H, Pask AJ, Fujiyama A, Suzuki Y, Sugano S, Shaw G, Renfree M. Effects of androgen and oestrogen on the IGF pathways controlling phallus growth. Reproduction. 2018 Oct 1. pii: REP-18-0416.R1. doi: 10.1530/REP-18-0416. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 30390614.

Stewart MK, Mattiske DM, Pask AJ. In utero exposure to both high- and low-dose diethylstilbestrol disrupts mouse genital tubercle development. Biol Reprod. 2018 Dec 1;99(6):1184-1193. doi: 10.1093/biolre/ioy142. PubMed PMID: 29931162.

Chen Y, Yu H, Pask AJ, Fujiyama A, Suzuki Y, Sugano S, Shaw G, Renfree MB. Hormone-responsive genes in the SHH and WNT/β-catenin signaling pathways influence urethral closure and phallus growth. Biol Reprod. 2018 Oct 1;99(4):806-816. doi: 10.1093/biolre/ioy117. PubMed PMID: 29767687.

Newton AH, Spoutil F, Prochazka J, Black JR, Medlock K, Paddle RN, Knitlova M, Hipsley CA, Pask AJ. Letting the ‘cat’ out of the bag: pouch young development of the extinct Tasmanian tiger revealed by X-ray computed tomography. R Soc Open Sci. 2018 Feb 21;5(2):171914. doi: 10.1098/rsos.171914. eCollection 2018 Feb. PubMed PMID: 29515893; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5830782.

Feigin CY, Newton AH, Doronina L, Schmitz J, Hipsley CA, Mitchell KJ, Gower G, Llamas B, Soubrier J, Heider TN, Menzies BR, Cooper A, O’Neill RJ, Pask AJ. Genome of the Tasmanian tiger provides insights into the evolution and demography of an extinct marsupial carnivore. Nat Ecol Evol. 2018 Jan;2(1):182-192. doi: 10.1038/s41559-017-0417-y. Epub 2017 Dec 11. PubMed PMID: 29230027.

2017

Lewis AC, Rankin KJ, Pask AJ, Stuart-Fox D. Stress-induced changes in color expression mediated by iridophores in a polymorphic lizard. Ecol Evol. 2017 Sep 7;7(20):8262-8272. doi: 10.1002/ece3.3349. eCollection 2017 Oct. PubMed PMID: 29075447; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5648675.

Newton AH, Feigin CY, Pask AJ. RUNX2 repeat variation does not drive craniofacial diversity in marsupials. BMC Evol Biol. 2017 May 4;17(1):110. doi: 10.1186/s12862-017-0955-6. PubMed PMID: 28472940; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5418715.

Chen Y, Yu H, Pask AJ, Shaw G, Renfree MB. Prostaglandin D2 Regulates SOX9 Nuclear Translocation during Gonadal Sex Determination in Tammar Wallaby, Macropus eugenii. Sex Dev. 2017;11(3):143-150. doi: 10.1159/000473782. Epub 2017 May 5. PubMed PMID: 28472794.

We are located in the School of BioSciences at the University of Melbourne.

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