Laurent Susini

Laurent Susini
Nationality French
Fields Oncology research; tumor reversion; TCTP
Institutions CEPHB-Fondation Jean Dausset; Caltech; Genethon; Los Alamos National Lab; Genset; Novartis
Alma mater Paris Diderot University

Laurent Susini (born April 18, 1965) is a French molecular biologist; his research is in the area of cancer and the genetic basis of tumor reversion.

Career

Laurent Susini started at the Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain (Fondation Jean Dausset-CEPH). He obtained his PhD in Human Genetics and Molecular Biology from University Paris VII - Denis Diderot.

He contributed to the first physical map of the Human Genome at Genethon and at Genset Corporation as a member of Daniel Cohen's team, collaborating with research teams from Caltech [1] and the Los Alamos National Lab.[2]

In the Lab of Prof. Moshe Oren at the Weizmann Institute of Science, he demonstrated that SIAH1 targets NUMB (gene), a protein involved in directing cell fate choices, for ubiquitin-mediated degradation.[3] SIAH1 is a p53-inducible gene, active in the process of cell death and tumor suppression by a mechanism consisting of ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation of specific target proteins.

Approaching cancer research with a different angle, not asking why the normal cells become malignant, but rather from the patients expectations: how do my tumor cells quit their malignant status, and thus, revert?, Laurent Susini joined Molecular Engines Laboratories (M.E.L.), a biotech company with headquarters and laboratories located in Paris (France), in 2000, to develop a new generation of innovative drugs against cancer with Adam Telerman and Robert Amson.

By conducting differential gene expression and bio-informatics analyses on the tumor reversion cellular models, they identified more than 200 genes involved in the process of tumor reversion, and specifically TCTP (Translationally Controlled Tumor Protein / Translationally Controlled Tumour Protein ). This work led to potential drugs preventing, and managing cancer by inhibiting the expression of the gene tpt1/TCTP.

Laurent Susini moved to Oncology Clinical Research in 2007 to contribute in clinical early development of anti-cancer drugs. First with Quintiles and then joining the Translational Clinical Oncology department from the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research to design and conduct phase I clinical trials, mainly in melanoma and heme malignancies.

Research

Laurent Susini has played a critical role in the research of M.E.L founded by Adam Telerman and Robert Amson. More particularly his expertise was instrumental for the genetic and epigenetic analyses of single revertant cells from different cancer cell lines, for the identification of a "drugable" target and for the generation of pharmacological compounds able to kill cancer cells.

TCTP (Translationally Controlled Tumor Protein was identified in a screen between tumor cells and revertant cells. Inhibition of TCTP influences reversion of tumor cells. Therefore, the objective was to develop drugs targeting TCTP in cancers overexpressing the protein.

Translationally Controlled Tumor Protein (TCTP/tpt1) is a regulator of the tumor reversion program,[4][5] tumor progression and certain forms of inflammatory diseases.[6] Laurent Susini described TCTP as a pro-survival protein antagonizing BAX, Bcl-2-associated X protein, function [7]

Publications

Most cited publications

Patents

Genes

References

  1. Kim UJ, Birren BW, Slepak T, Mancino V, Boysen C, Kang HL, Simon MI, Shizuya H (1 Jun 1996). "Construction and characterization of a human bacterial artificial chromosome library". Genomics. 34: 213–8. PMID 8661051. doi:10.1006/geno.1996.0268.
  2. Van Orden A, Keller RA, Ambrose WP (1 Jan 2000). "High-throughput flow cytometric DNA fragment sizing". Anal Chem. 72: 37–41. PMID 10655632. doi:10.1021/ac990782i.
  3. 1 2 3 Susini L, Passer BJ, Amzallag-Elbaz N, Juven-Gershon T, Prieur S, Privat N, Tuynder M, Gendron MC, Israël A, Amson R, Oren M, Telerman A (18 Dec 2001). "Siah-1 binds and regulates the function of Numb". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 98 (98(26)): 15067–72. PMC 64984Freely accessible. PMID 11752454. doi:10.1073/pnas.261571998.
  4. Tuynder M, Susini L, Prieur S, Besse S, Fiucci G, Amson R, Telerman A (Oct 2002). "Biological models and genes of tumor reversion: cellular reprogramming through tpt1/TCTP and SIAH-1". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 99 (23): 14976–81. PMC 137530Freely accessible. PMID 12399545. doi:10.1073/pnas.222470799.
  5. Tuynder M, Fiucci G, Prieur S, Lespagnol A, Géant A, Beaucourt S, Duflaut D, Besse S, Susini L, Cavarelli J, Moras D, Amson R, Telerman A (Oct 2004). "Translationally controlled tumor protein is a target of tumor reversion". Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 101 (43): 15364–9. PMC 523462Freely accessible. PMID 15489264. doi:10.1073/pnas.0406776101.
  6. MacDonald SM, Rafnar T, Langdon J, Lichtenstein LM (August 1995). "Molecular identification of an IgE-dependent histamine-releasing factor". Science. 269: 688–90. PMID 7542803. doi:10.1126/science.7542803.
  7. 1 2 Susini L; et al. (Aug 2008). "TCTP protects from apoptotic cell death by antagonizing bax function". Cell Death Differ. 15: 1211–20. PMID 18274553. doi:10.1038/cdd.2008.18.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.