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About Alex
Alex Botha is a biomedical scientist whose academic and research career is centered at the University of Otago's Christchurch campus. He earned a Bachelor of Biomedical Science with First Class Honours in 2022 from the Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science, completing his honours thesis titled 'Illuminating the Amyloid State of Tumour Suppressor Protein p16INK4a with Fluorescent Probes,' under the supervision of Christoph Goebl, Kenny Chitcholtan, Mark Hampton, and Vanessa Morris. Prior to this, he studied Biochemistry at the University of Canterbury from 2019 to 2021. In 2024, Botha obtained his Master of Biomedical Sciences with a thesis 'Exploring the response of p16INK4a to oxidation in human cells.' These projects investigated the structural and functional responses of the tumor suppressor protein p16INK4a under oxidative stress conditions.
Botha's contributions to redox biology and cancer research include co-authorship on the 2024 Nature Communications article 'Amyloid formation and depolymerization of tumor suppressor p16INK4a are regulated by a thiol-dependent redox mechanism.' Affiliated with Mātai Hāora - the Centre for Redox Biology and Medicine, he performed research and data analysis revealing a fully redox-regulated amyloid system: cysteine oxidation promotes rapid amyloid fibril assembly via a disulfide-bonded dimeric intermediate, while reduction disassembles the structures. Cancer-related mutations were shown to either enhance amyloid propensity or stabilize the native fold, preventing transition. As an Assistant Research Fellow in the Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science and the Centre for Free Radical Research, he honed skills in fluorescence microscopy, cancer biology, cell line culture, immunoblotting, human cell culture, immunofluorescence, and cancer cell biology. Recognized as a postgraduate alumnus of the Centre for Redox Biology and Medicine, Botha now serves as a Research and Development Scientist at Next Biosciences in South Africa, specializing in stem cell research and exosome production.
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