Carita Lannér

Biography

DNA replication is a tightly regulated, nonredundant process in all cells. Dysregulation of this process leads to serious genetic damage in a cell, malfunction of many cell processes and is often observed in cancer. DNA replication is carried out by a stable complex of enzymes and accessory proteins. I am interested in changes in DNA replication proteins in nonmalignant and malignant ovarian and breast tissue samples and cell lines. One method that can be used to screen for changes in protein isoforms and expression levels is 2 dimensional gel electrophoresis. After gel electrophoresis, proteins may be visualized in the gels by staining or transferred to membranes and blotted with antibodies for various proteins involved in DNA replication. A current focus in my research revolves around an important component of the DNA replication complex, the accessory protein “Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen” (PCNA). PCNA tethers many of the proteins involved in DNA replication and repair to the DNA template and can affect the activity of many of these proteins. PCNA is upregulated in proliferating cells and cancer and has been used as a diagnostic tool to evaluate degree of malignancy in tumor biopsies. The screen of ovarian and breast samples for changes in protein expression related to malignancy, uncovered a novel protein associated with the expression of the PCNA protein. The novel protein is expressed in non-malignant samples and appears to be absent or present in reduced amounts in malignant samples. Characterization of the protein to date, indicates that the protein may have some homology to PCNA but is otherwise different from PCNA. A protein containing homology to the binding domain of PCNA could be capable of interacting with proteins that bind PCNA and may play a role in many of the processes that PCNA is involved in. My interest in this protein is to determine whether the novel protein affects DNA replication in non-malignant and malignant ovarian and breast epithelial cells.

Research Interest

A current focus in my research revolves around an important component of the DNA replication complex, the accessory protein “Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen” (PCNA). PCNA tethers many of the proteins involved in DNA replication and repair to the DNA template and can affect the activity of many of these proteins. PCNA is upregulated in proliferating cells and cancer and has been used as a diagnostic tool to evaluate degree of malignancy in tumor biopsies. The screen of ovarian and breast samples for changes in protein expression related to malignancy, uncovered a novel protein associated with the expression of the PCNA protein. The novel protein is expressed in non-malignant samples and appears to be absent or present in reduced amounts in malignant samples. Characterization of the protein to date, indicates that the protein may have some homology to PCNA but is otherwise different from PCNA. A protein containing homology to the binding domain of PCNA could be capable of interacting with proteins that bind PCNA and may play a role in many of the processes that PCNA is involved in. My interest in this protein is to determine whether the novel protein affects DNA replication in non-malignant and malignant ovarian and breast epithelial cells.