Lab Headlines

• February 22, 2009: Calculating gene and protein connections in a Parkinson’s model
• February 9, 2009: The Hsp90-antifungal combo, please: Compromising fungi in the immunocompromised
• February 1, 2009: Study reveals connection between genetic and environmental causes of Parkinson’s disease

• Nature selects Hsp90 & evolution as one of the 15 evolutionary gems published in the journal in the last couple of decades (#15 "Variation vs. Stability")
• Meet JoVE: The YouTube Of Scientific Journals by Zeina Siam. The Tech, online edition

• Misfolded proteins accelerate yeast evolution (WIBR press release)
• Prion switching in response to environmental stress (PLoS Biology news release)
• New clue emerges for cellular damage in Huntington's Disease (WIBR press release)
• HHMI pilot program funds people and a few projects by Elizabeth Cooney. White Coat Notes, News from the Boston-area medical community

• Interplay of heat shock proteins regulates prion formation. (Shorter and Lindquist, 2008)

• Heat shock factor 1 regulates lifespan in prion disease (Steele et al., 2008)

• Susan Lindquist Honored with FASEB Excellence in Science Award

• Susan Lindquist Honored with Harvard Centennial Medal

• Susan Lindquist presents "New Clues to Parkinson's Disease from an Unlikely Source" to the Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus in Washington DC
• Mechanism for protecting yeast cells from prion toxicity (Douglas, Treusch et al. 2008)

• Susan Lindquist receives Otto Warburg Prize
• Parkinson's disease cellular processes revealed by yeast model, published in PNAS, (Gitler et al. 2008)

• Lindquist Wins 2008 Genetics Society of America Medal
• Hsp90-buffered genetic variation influences evolution of new traits (Sangster et al. 2008 a) (Sangster et al. 2008 b)

2007	Back to top

• December 2007: HSF1/cancer biology paper selected as one of Nature's Research Highlights for 2007. (Dai et al 2007)
• September 2007: Susan Lindquist Named one of Harvard's 100 Most Influential Alumni "The Harvard 100," 02138 Magazine
• September 21, 2007: "Heat Shock Factor 1 Is a Powerful Multifaceted Modifier of Carcinogenesis" published in Cell [Abstract]
• Paper chosen by editors of Nature as one of 2007's Research Highlights
• Heat Shock Proteins Are Co-opted for Cancer, by Deborah Halber (Whitehead Institute News Release)
• Cancer Cells Chill Out to Survive, by Mitch Leslie (ScienceNOW Daily NEWS)
• Ancient mechanism for coping with stresses also gives cancer a boost (Cell Press news release)
• HSF1 Inhibition Helps Fight Cancer Growth (Genetic Engineering & biotechnology News, GEN News Highlights)

 

HSF1 modulates oncogenesis by orchestrating a diverse network of cellular functions. (a) With intact HSF1 function, cells accommodate the stressful alterations imposed by either oncogene activation or tumor suppressor inactivation by modulating diverse cellular responses, such as proliferation, survival, signaling transduction, and metabolism. Ironically, the robustness of a healthy cell is exploited by oncogenic stimuli to accomplish the process of malignant transformation. (b) In contrast, with impaired HSF1, cells are unable to adapt efficiently because of disarrayed cellular responses. As a result, such cells demonstrate relative resistance to malignant transformation (from Dai et al. 2007).

 

• May 9, 2007: "Prion recognition elements govern nucleation, strain specificity and species barriers" published online in Nature [PDF 388 KB], [Supplementary Information]
  • Scientists Closer to Unfolding Mysteries of Prion Formation in Mad Cow Disease, by Nikhil Swaminathan (Scientific American)
  • Scientists identify prion's infectious secret, by David Cameron (Whitehead Institute Research News )
  • Researchers Identify Key Elements Controlling Prion Formation (HHMI Research News)
• May 2007: Prion Recognition Elements Described, online in Nature [Tessier and Lindquist, 2007, PDF]
• April 24, 2007: Susan Lindquist interviewed by Claudia Dreifus in NYT Science Times
• January 29, 2007: Lab neurodegenerative disease research published in PNAS, highlighting new high-throughput mouse behavioral phenotyping technology (PDF 1.7 MB)
  
• January 24-28, 2007: Susan Lindquist leads sessions on biotechnology at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland
  

• December 11, 2006: Parkinson's disease process may be curtailed by regenerative processes in yeast, fruit flies
  (MIT News Office)
  
• November 12, 2006: Susan Lindquist named in Scientific American's "SA50, Trends in Business, Policy and Research"
  
• November 1, 2006: Lindquist Research chosen for What a Year! (November) by the Massachusetts Society for Medical Research
  • Folding Proteins, Michael J. Fox and Parkinson's Disease. What do they have in common?
    
• October 9, 2006: Susan Lindquist elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies
  
• July 21, 2006: "{alpha}-Synuclein Blocks ER-Golgi Traffic and Rab1 Rescues Neuron Loss in Parkinson’s Models" (Abstract) (Reprint) published in Science
  
• July 18, 2006: Huntington's Disease Research Published in PNAS
  • [PDF 1.29 MB], [PDF 1.46 MB]
    
• June 23, 2006:
  • Lindquist discusses her Science paper Morning Edition and Science Friday
  • Parkinson's traits reversed in rat brain cells (New Scientist)
  • Protecting Neurons from Parkinson's Disease (Technology Review)
    
• May 9, 2006: Susan Lindquist Inaugurates "Futures in Biotech" Podcast on TWiT Network