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Dr Helen R Irving

Photo of Dr Irving

Senior Lecturer

BAgSc(Hons) University of Melbourne
PhD University of Melbourne

Telephone: +61 3 9903 9565
Fax:  +61 3 9903 9638
Email: helen.irving@pharm.monash.edu.au

Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Action, Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Research interests

  • Receptosomes as potential drug targets
  • Distribution and function of 5-HT receptors in the gut and other tissues
  • Moonlighting enzymes: can receptor kinases also contain guanylate cyclase activity
  • Natriuretic peptide analogues in plants and animals

Education

  • Evaluation and teaching of scientific inquiry: a research project
  • Teaching in Bachelor of Pharmacy and Bachelor of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the areas of biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, pharmacology and microbiology

Representative publications

  1. Hanna-Elias A, Manallack DT, Berque-Bestel I, Irving HR, Coupar IM, Iskander MN. Synthesis of quinoline derivatives as 5-HT4 receptor ligands. Australian Journal of Chemistry. 2009; 62:150-156.
  2. Chetty N, Coupar IM, Tan YY, Desmond PV, Irving HR.   Distribution of serotonin receptors and interacting proteins in the human sigmoid colon.  Neurogastroenterology & Motility. 2008 125; 21: doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2982.2008.01223.x; (online)
  3. Chetty N, Irving HR, Coupar IM. Effects of the novel 5-HT3 agonist MKC-733 on the rat, mouse and guinea-pig digestive tract.  Pharmacology. 2008; 81:104-109.
  4. Coupar IM, Desmond PV, Irving HR.  Human 5-HT4 and 5-HT7 receptor splice variants: are they important?  Current Neuropharmacology. 2007; 5:224-231.
  5. Kwezi L, Meier S, Mungur L, Ruzvidzo O, Irving H, Gehring C. The Arabidopsis thaliana brassinosteroid receptor (AtBRI1) contains a domain that functions as a guanylyl cyclase in vitro. PLoS one. 2007; 2(5):e449.doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000449.
  6. Wang YH, Gehring C, Cahill DM, Irving HR.   Plant natriuretic peptide active site determination and effects on cGMP and cell volume regulation. Functional Plant Biology. 2007; 34:645-653.
  7. Irving HR, Tan YY, Tochon-Danguy N, Liu H, Chetty N, Desmond PV, et.al.   Comparison of 5-HT4 and 5-HT7 receptor expression and function in the circular muscle of the human colon.  Life Sciences. 2007; 80:1198-1205.
  8. Trevaskis NL, Lo CM, Ma LY, Tso P, Irving HR, Porter CJH, et.al.   An acute and coincident increase in FABP expression and lymphatic lipid and drug transport occurs during intestinal infusion of lipid-based drug formulations to rats.  Pharmaceutical Research. 2006; 23:1786-1796.
  9. Chetty N, Irving HR, Coupar IM.   Activation of 5-HT3 receptors in the rat and mouse intestinal tract: a comparative study. British Journal of Pharmacology. 2006; 148:1012-1021.
  10. Poole DP, Xu B, Koh SL, Hunne B, Coupar IM, Irving HR, et.al.   Identification of neurons that express 5-hydroxytryptamine-4 receptors in the intestine. Cell and Tissue Research. 2006; 325:413-422.
  11. Liu H, Irving HR, Tan YY, Meng L, Chetty N, Coupar IM. The influences of gender and region on responses to 5-HT in the rat small intestine. Pharmacology. 2004; 72:220-224.
  12. Gehring CA, Irving HR. Natriuretic peptides – a class of heterologous molecules in plants.  Molecules in focus.  International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology. 2003; 35:1318-1322.
  13. Liu H, Coupar IM, Irving HR.  Effects of some antidepressant drugs on tryptaminergic response of the rat small intestine.  Pharmacology. 2003; 69:88-92.
  14. Kelly MN, Irving HR. Nod factors activate both heterotrimeric and monomeric G-proteins in Vigna unguiculata (L.). Walp Planta. 2003; 216: 674-685. 
  15. Ludidi NN, Heazlewood JL, Seoighe CJ, Irving HR, Gehring CA. Expansin-like molecules: Novel functions derived from common domains. Journal of Molecular Evolution. 2002; 54:587-594.
  16. Liu H, Irving HR, Coupar IM. Expression patterns of 5-HT7 receptor isoforms in the rat digestive tract.  Life Sciences. 2001; 69:2467-2475.
  17. Darroch S, Irving HR, Mitchelson FJ.   Characterisation of muscarinic receptor subtypes in avian smooth muscle.  European Journal of Pharmacology. 200; 402:161-169.
  18. Pharmawati M, Gehring CA , Irving HR.  An immunoaffinity purified plant natriuretic peptide analogue modulates cGMP levels in Zea mays root tissues.  Plant Science. 1998; 137:107-115.
  19. Irving HR. Abscisic acid induction of GTP hydrolysis in maize coleoptile plasma membranes. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology. 1998; 25:539-546.
  20. Gehring CA, Irving HR, Kabbara AA, Parish RW, Boukli NM, Broughton WJ. Rapid, plateau-like increases in intracellular free calcium are associated with Nod-factor--induced root-hair deformation. Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions. 1997; 10:791-802.