February 2008
LICR Mourns R. Palmer Baker Jr.
It is with deep regret and sorrow that we report the passing of R. Palmer Baker, Jr., former Chairman of the LICR Board of Directors, who died on March 3. A gracious, generous and gentle man, he was a friend, a colleague and a mentor. Read more about Mr. Baker here
Professor Sir David Lane Joins LICR Scientific Advisory Committee
The LICR Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) had the great pleasure of welcoming Sir David as a new member at its meeting in New York in February. An eminent molecular biologist, Sir David is best known for his co-discovery and subsequent research on tumor suppressor protein p53. Read more about Professor Sir David Lane here
Dr. Luisa Villa Elected to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences
It is our great pleasure to congratulate São Paulo Branch Director, Dr. Luisa Villa, on her recent election to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. Read more here
Mr. John Notter Elected to the LICR Board of Directors
We are delighted to announce that Mr. John Notter, one of the Institute’s original architects, rejoined the LICR Board of Directors on January 1. Read more about Mr. Notter here
Ark Therapeutics Group Buys Lymphatix
LICR spin-off company Lymphatix has been acquired by Ark Therapeutics Group, a biotech company that develops treatments for vascular disease and cancer. Read more
LICR News
Staff Appointments & Promotions
To Member: Dr. Colin Goding (Oxford Branch)
To Assistant Member: Dr. Gareth Bond (Oxford Branch)
To Associate Investigator: Dr. Zhanqui Liu (Melbourne Center)
Selected Manuscripts
Nature Neuroscience
From the laboratory of Dr. Don Cleveland (San Diego Branch):
Yamanaka K, Chun SJ, Boillee S, Fujimori-Tonou N, Yamashita H, Gutmann DH, Takahashi R, Misawa H, Cleveland DW. Astrocytes as determinants of disease progression in inherited amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Nat. Neurosci. 2008 Feb 3 PMID: 18246065
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA
From the laboratory of Drs. Sacha Gnjatic, Gerd Ritter and Lloyd Old (New York Branch):
Atanackovic D, Altorki NK, Cao Y, Ritter E, Ferrara CA, Ritter G, Hoffman EW, Bokemeyer C, Old LJ, Gnjatic S.Booster vaccination of cancer patients with MAGE-A3 protein reveals long-term immunological memory or tolerance depending on priming. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 Feb 5;105(5):1650-5 PMID: 18216244
From the laboratory of Dr. Don Cleveland (San Diego Branch):
Vande Velde C, Miller TM, Cashman NR, Cleveland DW. Selective association of misfolded ALS-linked mutant SOD1 with the cytoplasmic face of mitochondria. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. U S A. 2008 Feb 22 PMID: 18296640
From the laboratory of Dr. Ralf Pettersson (Stockholm Branch):
Overby AK, Pettersson RF, Grünewald K, Huiskonen JT. Insights into bunyavirus architecture from electron cryotomography of Uukuniemi virus. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. U S A. 2008 Feb 19;105(7):2375-9. Epub 2008 Feb 12 PMID: 18272496
Journal of Cell Biology
From the laboratories of Drs. Karen Oegema and Arshad Desai (San Diego Branch):
Dammermann A, Maddox PS, Desai A, Oegema K. SAS-4 is recruited to a dynamic structure in newly forming centrioles that is stabilized by the gamma-tubulin-mediated addition of centriolar microtubules. J. Cell Biol. 2008 Feb 25;180(4):771-85 PMID: 18299348
Blood
From the laboratory of Dr. Werner Held (Lausanne Branch):
Coudert JD, Scarpellino L, Gros F, Vivier E, Held W. Sustained NKG2D engagement induces cross-tolerance of multiple distinct NK cell activation pathways. Blood 2008 Jan 15 PMID: 18198346
From the laboratories of Drs. Jonathan Cebon and Weisan Chen (Melbourne Center):
Robson NC, Phillips DJ, McAlpine T, Shin A, Svobodova S, Toy T, Pillay V, Kirkpatrick N, Zanker D, Wilson K, Helling I, Wei H, Chen W, Cebon J, Maraskovsky E. Activin-A: a novel dendritic cell derived cytokine which potently attenuates CD40 ligand-specific cytokine and chemokine production. Blood 2007 Dec 21 PMID: 18156495
From the laboratories of Drs. Tony Burgess, Matthias Ernst, and Ed Nice (Melbourne Branch):
Walker F, Zhang HH, Matthews V, Weinstock J, Nice EC, Ernst M, Rose-John S, Burgess AW.IL6/sIL6R complex contributes to emergency granulopoietic response in G-CSF and GM-CSF deficient mice. Blood 2007 Dec 21 PMID: 18156493
International Journal of Cancer
From the laboratory of Dr. Anamaria Camargo (São Paulo Branch):
Parmigiani RB, Bettoni F, Grosso DM, Lopes A, Cunha IW, Soares FA, Carvalho AL, Fonseca F, Camargo AA.Antibodies against the cancer-testis antigen CTSP-1 are frequently found in prostate cancer patients and are an independent prognostic factor for biochemical-recurrence. Int. J. Cancer. 2008 Jan 23; PMID: 18214856
Cancer Immunity
An inter-Branch collaboration (New York Branch and Uppsala Branch):/p>
Yin BW, Kiyamova R, Chua R, Caballero OL, Gout I, Gryshkova V, Bhaskaran N, Souchelnytskyi S, Hellman U, Filonenko V, Jungbluth AA, Odunsi K, Lloyd KO, Old LJ, Ritter G.Monoclonal antibody MX35 detects the membrane transporter NaPi2b (SLC34A2) in human carcinomas. Cancer Immun. 2008 Feb 6;8:3 PMID: 18251464
Developmental Biology
From the laboratory of Dr. Ralf Pettersson (Stockholm Branch):
Raschperger E, Neve EP, Wernerson A, Hultenby K, Pettersson RF, Majumdar A.The coxsackie and adenovirus receptor (CAR) is required for renal epithelial differentiation within the zebrafish pronephros. Dev. Biol. 2008 Jan 1;313(1):455-64 PMID: 18062954
In Brief
LICR Melbourne Receives Largest NHMRC Grant in Australia
The National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia has awarded its largest grant for 2009 to a consortium headed by the LICR Melbourne Branch and including the LICR Melbourne Center. Dr. Tony Burgess (Director, Melbourne Branch) is the principal investigator of the grant and heads LICR’s international effort on colon cancer, the ‘LICR Colon Cancer Initiative’ (LCCI). Other LICR investigators on the grant are Drs. Matthias Ernst, Joan Heath, Richard Simpson (Melbourne Branch) and Andrew Scott (Melbourne Center). LICR Melbourne will collaborate with investigators at four other Melbourne Institutions: the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Monash University’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the University of Melbourne’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. The project is aimed at developing methods for early detection and treatment of colon cancer and will combine studies of cancer genetics, biomarkers, and methods for targeted drug delivery.
New Group Leaders Appointed at the Oxford Branch
We extend our warmest welcome to LICR’s newest group leaders Drs. Colin Goding and Gareth Bond, who joined the LICR Oxford Branch in January. Profiles of their research will follow in the April issue of NewsLink. Please note that all Oxford Branch staff can be contacted using the email address of firstname.lastname@licr.org.
New E-mail Addresses for Lausanne Branch Staff
As of January 1, the email addresses of the Lausanne Branch staff will change to firstname.lastname@licr.unil.ch (instead of firstname.lastname@isrec.unil.ch).
Branch staff within the Division of Clinical Onco-Immunology, i.e. the groups of Drs. Pedro Romero, Daniel Speiser and Olivier Michielin, will retain: firstname.lastname@hospvd.ch. The old email addresses (name@isrec.unil.ch) are valid until the summer of 2008.