Javier Marcelo Di Noia

Biography

Dr Di Noia graduated as a Biologist from University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He obtained his PhD from University of Buenos Aires in 2000, describing the genetic diversity of a family of surface molecules of the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. In 2001 he moved to the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK for post-doctoral training on the mechanisms of antibody gene diversification by somatic hypermutation and class switch recombination. Dr Di Noia established his laboratory at the IRCM in 2006, where he is currently Associate professor. He is associate research professor at the Université de Montréal and holds a Canada Research Chair in genetic diversity.

Research Interest

Our laboratory studies B lymphocytes by using molecular, biochemical and immunological assays, tissue culture of cell lines and primary B cells, as well as genetically modified mouse models, to investigate: 1.Molecular mechanism of antibody diversification. We are interested in identifying those mechanisms that regulate the programmed mutagenic processes that change the antibody affinity and isotype after B cells are activated by cognate antigen. We focus on the regulation of the mutagenic enzyme Activation induced deaminase (AID), which when defective underpins immunodeficiency and when deregulated is oncogenic. We also study the interplay of AID with DNA repair mechanisms. 2.Mechanisms promoting survival of B cells within the germinal center. The germinal center is a harsh microenvironment where B cells proliferate while undergoing programmed DNA damage. We are interested in key enzymes that permit the B cells to survive this particularly harsh microenvironment, and therefore mount an efficient antibody-mediated immune response.