Dr Laura Hulea
Département de Médecine et spécialités médicales,
Université de Montréal
Research keywords
CancerCellular stressMetabolismmRNA translationmTOR pathwaySignaling
Biographical Sketch
Laura Hulea started her scientific training in Lyon (France), where she obtained an engineering degree (INSA Lyon) and a Master’s degree (University Lyon I). She obtained her Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry from McGill University, Montreal. Her thesis was in the field of the transcriptional regulation and the DNA damage response. She then joined the laboratories of Dr. Ivan Topisirovic and Dr. Michael Pollak, at the Lady Davis Institute in Montreal. During her post-doctoral fellowship, she was interested in (i) exploiting metabolic vulnerabilities of cancer cells using clinically relevant drugs and characterizing their effects on the coordination of signaling, metabolism and gene expression and in (ii) elucidating the molecular underpinnings of translational programs regulated by the mTORC1/4E-BP/eIF4F axis and how these can be modulated by compounds that disrupt eIF4F.
In 2019, she joined the Centre de recherche de l’hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont as an independent researcher and Assistant Professor (University of Montreal, Departments of Medicine and of Biochemisty and molecular medicine). Her research aims to understand the coordinated regulation of mRNA translation and metabolism during the adaptation to stress, in disease states (cancer, diabetes, obesity) or during aging.
Research Interests
Current projects in the laboratory fall into three areas
Targeting translational machinery to overcome kinase inhibitor resistance of cancer cells
Both mRNA translation and metabolism are highly dysregulated in cancer and are associated with resistance to targeted therapy. We seek to to dissect the translational and metabolic mechanisms that underpin resistance to targeted therapies and the potential of targeting resistance using translation inhibitors.
Metabolic vulnerabilities of acute megakaryoblastic leukemia
This project, led in collaboration with the group of FA Mallette, aims to use a newly characterized mouse model of acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL), carrying a CBFA2T3-GLIS2 fusion gene, to identify metabolic vulnerabilities that would allow targeting of this highly aggressive pediatric leukemia.
Characterization of translational programs in thermogenic brown adipose tissue
With the group of L Kazak (McGill) we are interested in investigating the specific translation programs of brown adipose tissue during thermogenesis. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) dissipates chemical energy as heat, which makes thermogenic activation of BAT an exciting new target for weight loss and combating obesity.
The laboratory addresses these investigations using a broad panoply of technologies including polysome fractionation for the investigation of translational regulation, metabolomics analysis (GC/MS, LC/MS, Seahorse), genetic manipulation (CRISPR, siRNA), and established cellular and molecular biology techniques.