Laura Attardi
EducationCornell University
University of California at Berkeley
Parent
Scientific career
InstitutionsStanford University
Doctoral advisorRobert Tjian
Websitewww.med.stanford.edu/attardilab.html
External videos
video icon “Stanford Faculty - Meet Laura Attardi", August 19, 2015

Laura Attardi is the Catharine and Howard Avery Professor of the school of medicine, and professor of radiation oncology and genetics at Stanford University[1] where she leads the Attardi Laboratory. Attardi studies the tumor suppressor protein p53 and the gene that encodes it, TP53, to better understand mechanisms for preventing cancer.[2][3][4]

Early life and education

Laura Donatella Attardi is the daughter of biologists Giuseppe Attardi and Barbara Furman.[5][6]

Laura Attardi received her BA in biochemistry from Cornell University in 1988. She earned her PhD in molecular and cell biology from the University of California at Berkeley in 1994,[7] working with Robert Tjian.[8] She then did postdoctoral work at Massachusetts Institute of Technology[9] with Tyler Jacks.[8]

Career

In 2000, Attardi joined Stanford University School of Medicine in the departments of radiation oncology and genetics.[10] Attardi is the Catharine and Howard Avery Professor of the school of medicine, and professor of radiation oncology and genetics at Stanford University[1] She serves as a Program Director of the Cancer Biology and Cancer Stem Cells Program at Stanford Cancer Institute.[11]

Attardi is co-editor of the Annual Review of Cancer Biology[12] and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Cell Biology.[8]

Research

Attardi studies the tumor suppressor protein p53 and the gene that encodes it,[2][9] TP53. TP53 is the most frequently mutated gene (>50%) in human cancer, suggesting that it has a key role in preventing cancer formation.[13] The cellular mechanisms and transcriptional programs involved in p53 activation are complicated. There is evidence that p53 can suppress tumors, but it can also can cause toxicity in normal tissues. Understanding the activity of p53 and how to restore p53 function may lead to advances in anti-cancer therapeutics. Attardi's goal is to understand the mechanisms of p53 and its actions and effects in different settings.[9]

With Colleen A. Brady and others, Attardi developed knock-in mice with transactivation mutations in the two transactivation domains (TADs) to compromise p53 gene transactivation. The p53 transactivation mutant L25Q:W26S (p5325,26) affected the first TAD, while F53Q;F54S (p5353,54) mutated the second TAD. This model has enabled researchers to study p53's suppression of tumour formation[4]

In 2014, Attardi's research unexpectedly linked p53 with a developmental disorder, CHARGE syndrome. While studying mice with a mutated form of p53, researchers noted that mice with one mutated protein and one normal protein developed symptoms similar to CHARGE and died. Researchers also demonstrated a link between p53 and the CHD7 gene, which often displays mutations in cases of CHARGE.[14]

Attardi uses mice with a predisposition to pancreatic cancer as a model of p53 mutation. In 2017 her group reported that mice with a favorable mutation in the TAD2 transcriptional activation domain remained cancer-free longer than mice with the normal p53 gene. Using human cancer genomic data, Attardi has further suggested that a central mechanism of cancer suppression may involve a pathway, or “axis,” of three proteins, with p53 activating Ptpn14, which then suppresses Yap, which would otherwise promote cancer development. Deficiencies in p53 and Ptpn14 might therefore have similar consequences to Yap activation.[15]

Awards and honors

References

  1. 1 2 "Laura Attardi's Profile | Stanford Profiles". Stanford University. Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 "Researchers receive outstanding investigator awards from National Cancer Institute". News Center (in Samoan). November 17, 2015. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  3. ↑ McCarthy, Nicola (July 2008). "Stop start". Nature Reviews Cancer. 8 (7): 485. doi:10.1038/nrc2421. S2CID 13129574.
  4. 1 2 McCarthy, Nicola (June 2011). "Unpicking a Gordian knot". Nature Reviews Cancer. 11 (6): 389. doi:10.1038/nrc3075. ISSN 1474-1768. S2CID 32495259. Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  5. ↑ Chomyn, Anne (2015). Biographical Memoires: Giuseppe Attardi 1923–2008 (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. p. 8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  6. ↑ Wallace, Douglas C. (July 2008). "Giuseppe Attardi 1923–2008". Nature Genetics. 40 (7): 814. doi:10.1038/ng0708-814. ISSN 1546-1718. S2CID 44278848.
  7. 1 2 3 "LAURA D. ATTARDI, Ph.D." Stanford University. Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 "New editorial board members". Journal of Cell Biology. 211 (4): 723–727. 23 November 2015. doi:10.1083/jcb.201511023. PMC 4657179. S2CID 30257376. Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  9. 1 2 3 "Laura Attardi : Tumor biology". Ludwig Cancer Research. Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  10. ↑ "Spatial Genomics in Cancer Research with Illumina Sequencing and the NanoString GeoMx® Digital Spatial Profiler". Nanostring. Archived from the original on 2 August 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  11. ↑ "Cancer Biology and Cancer Stem Cells". Stanford Cancer Institute (in Samoan). Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  12. ↑ "Annual Review of Cancer Biology Editorial Committee". Annual Reviews. 2022. Archived from the original on 18 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  13. ↑ Surget S, Khoury MP, Bourdon JC (December 2013). "Uncovering the role of p53 splice variants in human malignancy: a clinical perspective". OncoTargets and Therapy. 7: 57–68. doi:10.2147/OTT.S53876. PMC 3872270. PMID 24379683.
  14. ↑ Bach, Becky (August 3, 2014). "Rare developmental disorder linked to tumor-suppressing protein, researchers find". Stanford News Center (in Samoan). Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  15. ↑ "Stanford-Led Study Uncovers Mutation that Supercharges Tumor-Suppressor". Research & Development World. 11 October 2017. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  16. ↑ "2015 Recipients of NCI Outstanding Investigator Awards - NCI". National Cancer Institute. 14 October 2015. Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  17. ↑ Bergeron, Louis (25 October 2007). "Five university scholars among fellows newly elected to AAAS". Stanford News Service. Archived from the original on 21 July 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  18. ↑ "AAAS Fellows" (PDF). American Association for the Advancement of Science. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  19. ↑ "Scholars: Current and Former Awardees". Damon Runyon. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
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