Carita LannÉr

Biography

2003- 2004 Assistant Scientist/Assistant Professor, Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Indianapolis, Indiana 2001-2003Assistant Scientist/Assistant Professor, Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, Indianapolis, Indiana 1999-2000Post Doctoral Fellow, Indiana University, School of Medicine, Wells Center for Pediatric Research, Indianapolis, Indiana 1997-1999 Post Doctoral Fellow, Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry, Indianapolis, Indiana 1997 Ph.D. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Breeding Research, Svalöv, Sweden 1983 M.Sc. The Ohio State University, Department of Genetics Columbus, Ohio 1977 B.Sc. The University of Lund, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Lund, Sweden 2003- 2004 Assistant Scientist/Assistant Professor, Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Indianapolis, Indiana 2001-2003Assistant Scientist/Assistant Professor, Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology, Indianapolis, Indiana 1999-2000Post Doctoral Fellow, Indiana University, School of Medicine, Wells Center for Pediatric Research, Indianapolis, Indiana 1997-1999 Post Doctoral Fellow, Indiana University School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry, Indianapolis, Indiana 1997 Ph.D. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Plant Breeding Research, Svalöv, Sweden 1983 M.Sc. The Ohio State University, Department of Genetics Columbus, Ohio 1977 B.Sc. The University of Lund, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Lund, Sweden

Research Interest

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.