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Christian E. Rocheleau, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Medicine christian.rocheleau [at] mcgill.ca |
Biographical Sketch
A native of Massachusetts, I attended听undergraduate at Assumption College in Worcester (1990-94), where I developed听an interest in cell biology and signal transduction.听听I pursued these听interests during my Ph.D. (2000) at the University of Massachusetts Medical听School (Worcester) working with Dr. Craig Mello in the Department of Cell听Biology.听There I used the then new technique of RNA-mediated interference听(RNAi) and the emerging genome sequence to elucidate a novel Wnt/MAPK-like听pathway as establishing polarity and cell fates in the early C. elegans听embryo.听As a Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund Postdoctoral fellow I听continued studies in signal transduction in the Department of Genetics at the听University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) working with Dr. Meera Sundaram (2000-05).听There I characterized the role of scaffold proteins in the听Ras/MAPK pathway and identified numerous novel regulators of Ras/MAPK听signaling via mutagenesis screens and RNAi. In 2005 I established my own lab听in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine at听91社区 and the MUHC Research Institute as an Assistant Professor听and Canada Research Chair.听In 2011 I was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure and joined the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology as an听associate member.
Keywords
Vesicular听trafficking, signal transduction, cell biology, genetics, Caenorhabditis听elegans
Research or Clinical Activities
Our laboratory studies the听molecular mechanisms of endocrinology using the model organism Caenorhabditis听elegans. Hormones and Growth Factors act as signals from one cell to another听to control various cellular behaviors such as proliferation, differentiation,听and migration. These signals can activate receptors on the cell surface to听initiate a cascade of molecular events that transduce the signal to the cell听interior to elicit a cellular response. The Ras/MAPK pathway can transduce听signals from a variety of receptors to control numerous cellular responses听and inappropriate activation of this pathway can lead to cancer. Vesicular听trafficking plays an important role in endocrine signaling, in both the听secretion of hormone signals and in the regulation of downstream signaling听events.听Our research focuses on understanding the mechanisms that regulate听vesicular trafficking and signal transduction as well as understanding how听these two processes intersect. These fundamental cellular processes are听evolutionarily conserved between humans and the nematode C. elegans.听Therefore, we can apply the rapid forward and reverse genetic approaches听available in C. elegans to identify and characterize new regulators relevant听to the development of therapeutics to treat human cancers and endocrine听diseases caused by unregulated signaling and/or vesicular trafficking.
Selected Recent Publications
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Mera艧 陌,听Chotard L, Liontis T,听Ratemi Z,听Wiles B,听Seo JH, Van Raamsdonk JM and听Rocheleau CE听(2022)听PLoS Genet 18(8): e1010328.
Gauthier KD听and听Rocheleau CE听(2021)听Molecular Biology of the Cell听
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Gauthier KD听and听Rocheleau CE听(2021) Development听
Ratemi Z, Kiss RS and听Rocheleau CE听(2019)听microPublication Biology听
Law听F, Seo听J-H, Wang听Z, DeLeon听JL, Bolis听Y, Brown听A, Zong听W-X, Du听G听and Rocheleau听CE听(2017)听Journal of听Cell Science
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