Vice Chair, Department of Biomedical Sciences
Professor, Department of Biomedical Sciences
Contact Information
Email:Biosketch
Erik D. Larson, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Dr. Larson graduated from the University of Oregon with a B.S. in Biology. He earned a M.S. in Biology from the University of North Dakota prior to completing his Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. He was a NIH postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, in Immunology and Biochemistry.
Dr. Larson has extensive experience in teaching and developing curricula in molecular biology and genetics. His research seeks to understand mechanisms of genetic instability.
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Education and Training
- Postdoctoral Fellowship 2007, Biochemistry, School of Medicine, University of Washington-Seattle Campus
- PhD 2001, Molecular/Cell Biology, Indiana University, Indiana University-Bloomington
- MS 1998, Biology, University of North Dakota
- BS 1994, Molecular Biology, University of Oregon
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Research
- quadruplex DNA
- mismatch repair
- Trinucleotide Repeat Expansion
- Somatic Hypermutation, Immunoglobulin
- Nucleic Acid Structure or Function
- Mutagenesis
- Molecular Genetics
- Immunoglobulin Class Switching
- Genome Instability
- Genes, Immunoglobulin
- Evolution, Molecular
- Double strand break repair
- DNA Replication
- DNA Repair Enzymes
- Cancer Genetics
- Biochemistry, Proteins
- Biochemistry, Nucleic Acids
- Base Excision Repair
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Publications
Parsons A.M., Byrne S., Kooistra J., Dewey J., Zebolsky A.L., Alvarado G., Bouma G.J., Vanden Heuvel G.B., Larson E.D. G-quadruplex stabilization provokes DNA breaks in human PKD1, revealing a second hit mechanism for ADPKD Nature Communications. 2025;16
Williams J.D., Houserova D., Johnson B.R., Dyniewski B., Berroyer A., French H., Barchie A.A., Bilbrey D.D., Demeis J.D., Ghee K.R., Hughes A.G., Kreitz N.W., McInnis C.H., Pudner S.C., Reeves M.N., Stahly A.N., Turcu A., Watters B.C., Daly G.T., Langley R.J., Gillespie M.N., Prakash A., Larson E.D., Kasukurthi M.V., Huang J., Jinks-Robertson S., Borchert G.M. Characterization of long G4-rich enhancer-associated genomic regions engaging in a novel loop:loop 'G4 Kissing' interaction Nucleic Acids Research. 2020;48(11):5907-5925.
Berroyer A., Alvarado G., Larson E.D. Response of Sulfolobus solfataricus Dpo4 polymerase in vitro to a DNA G-quadruplex Mutagenesis. 2019;34(3):289-297.
Holton N., Larson E. G-quadruplex DNA structures can interfere with uracil glycosylase activity in vitro Mutagenesis. 2016;31(4):385-392.
Williams J.D., Fleetwood S., Berroyer A., Kim N., Larson E.D. Sites of instability in the human TCF3 (E2A) gene adopt G-quadruplex DNA structures in vitro Frontiers in Genetics. 2015;6(MAY)
Samarajeewa D.A., Sauls P.A., Sharp K.J., Smith Z.J., Xiao H., Groskreutz K.M., Malone T.L., Boone E.C., Edwards K.A., Shiu P.K.T., Larson E.D., Hammond T.M. Efficient detection of unpaired DNA requires a member of the rad54-like family of homologous recombination proteins Genetics. 2014;198(3):895-904.
Ehrat E.A., Johnson B.R., Williams J.D., Borchert G.M., Larson E.D. G-quadruplex recognition activities of E. Coli MutS BMC Molecular Biology. 2012;13
Borchert G., Holton N., Larson E. Repression of human activation induced cytidine deaminase by miR-93 and miR-155 BMC Cancer. 2011;11
Borchert G.M., Holton N.W., Edwards K., Vogel L.A., Larson E.D. Histone H2A and H2B are monoubiquitinated at AID-targeted loci PLoS ONE. 2010;5(7)
Larson E., Bednarski D., Maizels N. High-fidelity correction of genomic uracil by human mismatch repair activities BMC Molecular Biology. 2008;9
Vallur A.C., Yabuki M., Larson E.D., Maizels N. AID in antibody perfection Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. 2007;64(5):555-565.
Larson E.D., Cummings W.J., Bednarski D.W., Maizels N. MRE11/RAD50 cleaves DNA in the AID/UNG-dependent pathway of immunoglobulin gene diversification Molecular Cell. 2005;20(3):367-375.
Larson E.D., Duquette M.L., Cummings W.J., Streiff R.J., Maizels N. MutSα binds to and promotes synapsis of transcriptionally activated immunoglobulin switch regions Current Biology. 2005;15(5):470-474.
Larson E.D., Maizels N. Transcription-couple mutagenesis by the DNA deaminase AID Genome Biology. 2004;5(3)
Larson E., Iams K., Drummond J. Strand-specific processing of 8-oxoguanine by the human mismatch repair pathway: Inefficient removal of 8-oxoguanine paired with adenine or cytosine DNA Repair. 2003;2(11):1199-1210.
Wang H., Yang Y., Schofield M.J., Du C., Fridman Y., Lee S.D., Larson E.D., Drummond J.T., Alani E., Hsieh P., Erie D.A. DNA bending and unbending by MutS govern mismatch recognition and specificity Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2003;100(25):14822-14827.
Iams K., Larson E.D., Drummond J.T. DNA template requirements for human mismatch repair in vitro Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2002;277(34):30805-30814.
Larson E.D., Nickens D., Drummond J.T. Construction and characterization of mismatch-containing circular DNA molecules competent for assessment of nick-directed human mismatch repair in vitro. Nucleic acids research. 2002;30(3)
Larson E.D., Drummond J.T. Human Mismatch Repair and G·T Mismatch Binding by hMutSα in Vitro is Inhibited by Adriamycin, Actinomycin D, and Nogalamycin Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2001;276(13):9775-9783.
Hughes C.R., Larson E.D. Characterization of microsatellite loci developed for the wattled curassow, Crax globulosa Molecular Ecology. 2000;9:632-633.
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Presentations
- The impact of G-quadruplex DNA on expression of the human PKD1 gene. Byrne S, Parsons A, Bouma G, Vanden Heuvel G, Larson E, 42nd Annual Kalamazoo Community and Health Sciences Research Day, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 04/2024
- Molecular model for two hit somatic mutations in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. Kooistra J, Parsons A, Bungha Tita LV, Bouma G, Vanden Heuvel G, Larson E, 42nd Annual Kalamazoo Community and Health Sciences Research Day, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 04/2024
- Overtly coding lecture slides to learning objectives in the genetic and metabolic disorders course: A study measuring student performance and perception. Hall C, Larson E, 42nd Annual Kalamazoo Community and Health Sciences Research Day, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 04/2024
- Medical Student Community Garden: Growing Healthy Habits with the Kalamazoo Community. Hangse T, Vosters J, Fukuda N, Mazurek S, Larson E, 41st Annual Kalamazoo Community Medical & Health Sciences Research Day, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 05/2023
- Visualization of DNA G-Quadruplex Structures and PKD1 in Human Kidney Cells and Polycystic Kidney Disease. Kooistra J, Su K, Byrne S, Lopez A, Vanden Heuvel G, Larson E, Bouma G, 41st Annual Kalamazoo Community Medical & Health Sciences Research Day, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 05/2023
- Detection Of G-Quadruplex DNA Structures Within Human PKDI. Handelsman S, Nickson N, Su K, Larson E, 40th Annual Kalamazoo Community Medical and Health Sciences Research Day, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 04/2022
- A Bioinformatic Approach to Identifying Sites of Instability in PKD1. Dewey J, Larson E, 38th Annual Kalamazoo Community Medical and Health Sciences Virtual Research Day, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 04/2021
- 3D Bioprinted Barrier Construct for Bone Healing in Systemic Inflammatory Conditions. Madsen A, Lorber A, Su K, Alvarado G, Larson E, 38th Annual Kalamazoo Community Medical and Health Sciences Virtual Research Day, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 04/2021