Dr. Amélie Fradet-Turcotte, Ph.D., owns a Canada Research Chair in molecular virology and genomic instability and is an assistant professor in the Department of molecular biology, medical biochemistry and pathology of the Laval University School of Medicine. Recruited to the CHU de Québec research center in September 2015, she is a member of the St-Patrick Research Group in Fundamental Oncology and of Laval University’s Cancer Research Center (CRC).
The main interest of Dr. Fradet-Turcotte’s laboratory is to understand how the mechanisms that safeguard genomic integrity in our cells are challenged during viral infections. Her laboratory uses a combination of molecular biology, biochemistry, and cellular biology to determine how the infection by DNA viruses such as the human papillomavirus (HPV) impacts the genomic integrity of the infected cell and to tackle how viruses usurp the DNA-damage machinery to promote the viral life cycle. Specifically, the work in her laboratory aims at elucidating the following questions: 1) What is the interplay between HPV and the DSB signaling and repair proteins, and how does it change during carcinogenesis? 2) How does HPV impact the functions of the reader of ubiquitylated chromatin in cancer cells? 3) What are the consequences of viral infection on DSB signaling and DNA repair pathway choice, and how does this affect the resistance of HPV+ cancer cells to current chemo- and radiotherapies?
Every day, many different types of DNA damage threaten the integrity of our genome. A failure to properly repair these alterations can result in the acquisition of hallmarks of cancer such as translocations and somatic mutations, or can lead to cell death. By using HPV as a model, the outcomes of these studies will not only improve our understanding of the mechanisms that safeguard genomic stability in our cells, but they will also have important implications for HPV-dependent cancer biology (cervical and oropharyngeal cancers), as well as for our understanding of the viral life cycle.
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Two redundant ubiquitin-dependent pathways of BRCA1 localization to DNA damage sites
Journal ArticleEMBO Rep, 22 (12), 2021.
CDK1-Mediated Phosphorylation of BAG3 Promotes Mitotic Cell Shape Remodeling and the Molecular Assembly of Mitotic p62 Bodies
Journal ArticleCells, 10 (10), 2021.
ActiveDriverDB: Interpreting Genetic Variation in Human and Cancer Genomes Using Post-translational Modification Sites and Signaling Networks (2021 Update)
Journal ArticleFront Cell Dev Biol, 9 , 2021.
Human papillomavirus E7 oncoprotein targets RNF168 to hijack the host DNA damage response
Journal ArticleProc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 116 (39), 2019.
The Epstein-Barr Virus BMRF1 Protein Activates Transcription and Inhibits the DNA Damage Response by Binding NuRD
Journal ArticleJ Virol, 93 (22), 2019.
Virus DNA Replication and the Host DNA Damage Response
Journal ArticleAnnu Rev Virol, 5 (1), 2018.
ActiveDriverDB: human disease mutations and genome variation in post-translational modification sites of proteins
Journal ArticleNucleic Acids Res, 46 (D1), 2018.
A Screen for Epstein-Barr Virus Proteins That Inhibit the DNA Damage Response Reveals a Novel Histone Binding Protein
Journal ArticleJ Virol, 92 (14), 2018.
Inhibition of 53BP1 favors homology-dependent DNA repair and increases CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing efficiency
Journal ArticleNat Biotechnol, 36 (1), 2018.
The RNF168 paralog RNF169 defines a new class of ubiquitylated histone reader involved in the response to DNA damage
Journal ArticleElife, 6 , 2017.
Active projects
- Chaire de recherche du Canada en virologie moléculaire et instabilité génomique, from 2022-09-01 to 2027-08-31
- Collaboration entre les laboratoires d’Amélie Fradet-Turcotte (AFT) et Louis Flamand (LF) sur l’étude des mécanismes de réponses aux dommages à l’ADN et les infections virales, from 2023-04-24 to 2025-04-23
- Deciphering the impact of chromatin modifications on DNA repair processes., from 2016-04-01 to 2025-03-31
- Unraveling the molecular mechanisms that promote replication stress and resistance to chemoradiation in oropharyngeal cancer caused by human papillomavirus, from 2022-04-01 to 2027-03-31
Recently finished projects
- Conférence Signalisation Québec 2022, from 2022-06-01 to 2023-05-31
- Fonds Jeanne-et-Jean-Louis-Lévesque en soutien à la Chaire de recherche en virologie moléculaire et instabilité génomique, from 2017-03-01 to 2024-04-30