Dr John O'Neill

Research

My main research interest is circadian rhythms: the innate biological 24-hour clock that sustains daily cycles in behaviour and physiology in organisms as diverse as humans, plants and bacteria.

See http://www2.mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk/group-leaders/n-to-s/john-oneill/ for more information.

Biography

As an undergraduate I studied Biochemistry at New College, University of Oxford, and was fortunate to work in Antony Galione’s lab during my final year. I then defected to Cambridge for my PhD, working with Mick Hastings at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. Following a brief stint of post-doctoral research with Andrew Millar at the University of Edinburgh, I returned to Cambridge to pursue the many interactions between circadian timekeeping and human health. My group is based in the Cell Biology division of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. The Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust fund our work.

Selected Publications

Circadian regulation of olfaction and an evolutionarily conserved, nontranscriptional marker in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Dec 11;109(50):20479-84.
Olmedo M, O'Neill JS, Edgar RS, Valekunja UK, Reddy AB, Merrow M.

Peroxiredoxins are conserved markers of circadian rhythms.
Nature. 2012 May 16;485(7399):459-64.
Edgar RS, Green EW, Zhao Y, van Ooijen G, Olmedo M, Qin X, Xu Y, Pan M, Valekunja UK, Feeney KA, Maywood ES, Hastings MH, Baliga NS, Merrow M, Millar AJ, Johnson CH, Kyriacou CP, O'Neill JS, Reddy AB.

The essential role of cAMP/Ca2+ signalling in mammalian circadian timekeeping.
Biochem Soc Trans. 2012 Feb;40(1):44-50.
O'Neill JS, Reddy AB.

Circadian Clock Parameter Measurement: Characterisation of Clock Transcription Factors using Surface Plasmon Resonance.
J Biol Rhythms. 2011 Apr;26(2):91-8.
John S. O’Neill, Gerben Van Ooijen, Thierry Le Bihan, Andrew Millar.

Circadian Clocks in Human Red Blood Cells.
Nature 2011 Jan 27;469(7331):498-503.
John S. O’Neill & Akhilesh B. Reddy.

Circadian rhythms persist without transcription in a eukaryote.
Nature 2011 Jan 27;469(7331):554-8.
John S. O’Neill, Gerben Van Ooijen, Laura Dixon, Carl Troein, Florence Corellou, Akhilesh B. Reddy, Francois-Yves Bouget, Andrew Millar.

Healthy clocks, healthy body, healthy mind.
Trends Cell Biol. 2010 Jan;20(1):36-44.
Reddy AB & O'Neill JS.

Increased Coherence of Circadian Rhythms in Mature Fibroblast Cultures.
J Biol Rhythms. 2008 Dec;23(6):483-8.
John S. O’Neill and Michael H. Hastings.

Cellular circadian pacemaking and the role of cytosolic rhythms.
Curr Biol. 2008 Sep 9;18(17):R805-15.
Michael H. Hastings, Elizabeth S. Maywood and John S. O’Neill.

Cyclic AMP-dependent signaling as a multi-functional component of the cellular circadian clockwork of mammals.
Science. 2008 May 16;320(5878):949-53.
John S. O’Neill, Elizabeth S. Maywood, Johanna E. Chesham, Joseph S. Takahashi & Michael H. Hastings.

The after-hours mutant reveals a role for Fbxl3 in determining mammalian circadian period.
Science. 2007 May 11;316(5826):897-900.
Godinho SI, Maywood ES, Shaw L, Tucci V, Barnard AR, Busino L, Pagano M, Kendall R, Quwailid MM, Romero MR, O'Neill JS, Chesham JE, Brooker D, Lalanne Z, Hastings MH, Nolan PM.

Circadian orchestration of the hepatic proteome.
Curr Biol. 2006 Jun 6;16(11):1107-15.
Reddy AB, Karp NA, Maywood ES, Sage EA, Deery M, O'Neill JS, Wong GK, Chesham J, Odell M, Lilley KS, Kyriacou CP, Hastings MH.

Synchronization and maintenance of timekeeping in suprachiasmatic circadian clock cells by neuropeptidergic signaling.
Curr Biol. 2006 Mar 21;16(6):599-605.
Maywood ES, Reddy AB, Wong GK, O'Neill JS, O'Brien JA, McMahon DG, Harmar AJ, Okamura H, Hastings MH.

Sperm Deliver a New Second Messenger.
Curr Biol. 2003 Jan 21; 13(2): 125-8.
Churchill G, O'Neill JS, Masgrau R, Patel S, Thomas J, Genazzani A, Galione A.

Teaching

University of Cambridge Natural Sciences: IA Biology of Cells; 1B Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; 1B Cellular and Developmental Biology.

University of Cambridge PKP Summer School 2009 & 2010: Scales of Biology.