Alex Hughes, PhD

Research Interests

We are interested in understanding the molecular underpinnings of prostate and bladder cancers with the ultimate goal of bringing new therapeutic approaches to the clinic.

Publications

• Léa J. Becker, Madison M. Martin, Alex C. Hughes, Bernard Mulvey, Chao-Cheng Kuo, Sean C. Piantadosi, Michael R. Bruchas, Keri Martinowich, Frank J. Meye, Lindsay A. Schwarz, David Weinshenker, Jordan G. McCall, Danai Riga, Neuropeptides as transmitters and regulators of the locus coeruleus noradrenergic system, Pharmacological Reviews, Volume 77, Issue 5, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pharmr.2025.100081.
• J. G. Lee, J. Petraccione, K. A. Trese, A. C. Hughes, T. R. Ausec, M. Salzmann-Sullivan, L.-J. Su, M. T. Kim, S. Roh, A. P. Goodwin, F. X. Feng, T. W. Flaig, C. W. Shields IV, Soft Extrudable Dendritic Particles with Nanostructured Tendrils for Local Adhesion and Drug Release to Bladder Cancers. Adv. Mater. 2025, 2505231. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202505231
• Lee JG, Petraccione J, Trese KA, Hughes AC, Ausec TR, Salzmann-Sullivan M, Su LJ, Kim MT, Roh S, Goodwin AP, Feng FX, Flaig TW, Shields CW 4th. Soft Extrudable Dendritic Particles with Nanostructured Tendrils for Local Adhesion and Drug Release to Bladder Cancers. Adv Mater. 2025 Sep;37(38):e2505231. PubMed PMID: 40611758
• Ogg MC, Lansdell BJ, Franks HT, Hughes AC, Lee J, Nolen HG, Shirinifard A, Schwarz LA. Locus coeruleus norepinephrine neurons facilitate orbitofrontal cortex remapping and behavioral flexibility. Cell Rep. 2025 Dec 23;44(12):116687. PubMed PMID: 41389209
• Becker LJ, Martin MM, Hughes AC, Mulvey B, Kuo CC, Piantadosi SC, Bruchas MR, Martinowich K, Meye FJ, Schwarz LA, Weinshenker D, McCall JG, Riga D. Neuropeptides as transmitters and regulators of the locus coeruleus noradrenergic system. Pharmacol Rev. 2025 Sep;77(5):100081. PubMed PMID: 40749333
• Hughes, A.C., Pittman, B.G., Xu, B. et al. A single-vector intersectional AAV strategy for interrogating cellular diversity and brain function. Nat Neurosci 27, 1400–1410 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-024-01659-7
• M. Cameron Ogg, Hunter T. Franks, Benjamin J. Lansdell, Alex C. Hughes, Jimin Lee, Hunter G. Nolen, Abbas Shirinifard, Lindsay A. Schwarz. Locus Coeruleus Norepinephrine Neurons Facilitate Orbitofrontal Cortex Remapping and Behavioral Flexibility. bioRxiv 2023.12.15.571858; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.12.15.571858
• Perera YR, Xu JX, Amarasekara DL, Hughes AC, Abbood I, Fitzkee NC. Understanding the Adsorption of Peptides and Proteins onto PEGylated Gold Nanoparticles. Molecules. 2021; 26(19):5788. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26195788
• Y. Randika Perera, Taylor M. South, Alex C. Hughes, Ashlyn N. Parkhurst, Olivia C. Williams, Mackenzie B. Davidson, Chloe A. Wilks, Debra A. Mlsna, and Nicholas C. Fitzkee. Using NMR Spectroscopy To Measure Protein Binding Capacity on Gold Nanoparticles. Journal of Chemical Education 2020 97 (3), 820-824 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00625
• Erik W. Martin, Alex S. Holehouse, Christy R. Grace, Alex Hughes, Rohit V. Pappu, and Tanja Mittag. Sequence Determinants of the Conformational Properties of an Intrinsically Disordered Protein Prior to and upon Multisite Phosphorylation. Journal of the American Chemical Society 2016 138 (47), 15323-15335 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b10272

Professional Memberships

• University of Colorado Cancer Center, Affiliate Member