Léa Brakier-Gingras

Professor

Contact Information

Département de biochimie
Faculté de Médecine
Université de Montréal
Pavillon Roger-Gaudry, bureau E-519
C.P. 6128, Succ. Centre-ville
Montréal (Québec)
H3C 3J7

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T 514 343-6316
F 514 343-2210
lea.brakier.gingras@umontreal.ca

Themes

  • Gene expression control

Changes in the fidelity of translation in senescent cells

Senescence is a permanent arrest of the replication cycle that opposes to the proliferation of cancerous cells and is also involved in the process of aging. Senescent cells are metabolically active.  Our research focuses on the translational fidelity of senescent cells (misincorporation of aminoacids, frameshift and readthrough of stop codons). So far, we investigated changes in the readthrough in translation. This event is more widespread than previously believed in eukaryotes. It produces proteins that are lengthened in C-terminal and exhibit properties different from standard proteins or have a different localization. Our preliminary results show that ribosomes from senescent cells make less readthrough than non-senescent cells. We now want to study which pathways control this change, what are the ribosomal modifications responsible for this change and which role this change plays in the establishment of senescence. This research is developed in tight collaboration with Dr. Gerardo Ferbeyre.

Publications

  • Knops, E., Brakier-Gingras, L., Schûlter, E., Pfister, H., Kaiser, R. et Verheyen, J. Mutational patterns in the frameshift-regulating site of HIV-1 selected by protease inhibitors. (Med. Microbiol. Immunol., 2012, 201, 213-218).
  • Charbonneau, J., Gendron, K., Ferbeyre, G, et Brakier-Gingras, L. The 5’UTR of HIV-1 full-length mRNA and the Tat viral protein modulate the programmed -1 ribosomal frameshift that generates HIV-1.(RNA, 2012, 18, 519-529).
  • Brakier-Gingras, L., Charbonneau, J. et Butcher S.E. Targeting frameshiting in HIV. Expert Opinion on therapeutic targets. 2012, 16, 249-258)