Post-transcriptional mechanisms of regulating gene expression make very important contributions to targeting proteins to particular regions of the cell, especially in large or highly asymmetric cells such as oocytes and neurons. We use Drosophila to study how mRNAs are localized and rendered translationally active in one cellular region while being repressed in others. We also collaborate with clinical geneticists to use Drosophila to model rare cancers and other rare genetic diseases.
Stevens SJC, Stumpel CTRM, Diderich KEM, van Slegtenhorst MA, Abbott MA, Manning C, Balciuniene J, Pyle LC, Leonard J, Murrell JR, van de Putte R, van Rooij IALM, Hoischen A, Lasko P, Brunner HG. (2022) The broader phenotypic spectrum of congenital caudal abnormalities associated with mutations in the Caudal Type Homeobox 2 gene. Clin Genet. 101: 183-189.
Chaouch A, Berlandi J, Chen CCL, Frey F, Badini S, Harutyunyan AS, Chen X, Krug B, Hébert S, Jeibmann A, Lu C, Kleinman CL, Hasselblatt M, Lasko P, Shirinian M, Jabado N. (2021) Histone H3.3 K27M and K36M mutations de-repress transposable elements through perturbation of antagonistic chromatin marks. Mol Cell 81: 4876-4890.e7.
Dold A, Han H, Liu N, Hildebrandt A, Brüggemann M, Rücklé C, Hänel H, Busch A, Beli P, Zarnack K, König J, Roignant JY, Lasko P. (2020) Makorin 1 controls embryonic patterning by alleviating Bruno-mediated repression of oskar translation. PLoS Genet. 16: e1008581.
Kong J, Han H, Bergalet J, Bouvrette LPB, Hernández G, Moon NS, Vali H, Lécuyer É, Lasko P. (2019) A ribosomal protein S5 isoform is essential for oogenesis and interacts with distinct RNAs in Drosophila melanogaster. Sci Rep. 9: 13779.
Lasko P. (2017) mRNAs on the move after lunch. Dev Cell 42: 439-440.
Wyrwoll, M.J., Gaasbeek, C.M., Golubickaite, I., Stakaitis, R., Oud, M.S., Nagirnaja, L., Dion, C., Sindi, E. B., Leitch, H.G., Jayasena, C.N., Sironen, A., Rotte, N., Stallmeyer, B., Kliesch, S., Grangeiro, C.H.P., Araujo, T.F., Lasko, P., Genetics of Male Infertility Initiative (GEMINI) Consortium, D’Hauwers, K., Smits, R.M., Ramos, L., Xavier, M.J., Conrad, D., Almstrup, K., Veltman, J.A., Tüttelmann, F., and van der Heijden, G.W. (2022) The piRNA-pathway factor FKBP6 is essential for spermatogenesis but dispensable for control of meiotic LINE-1 expression. American Journal of Human Genetics, in press.
Xu, C.C.Y., Ramsay, C., Cowan, M., Dehghani, M., Lasko, P., and Barrett, R.D.H. (2021) Transgenes of genetically modified animals detected non-invasively via environmental DNA. PLoS ONE 16(8): e0249439. PMID 34437552.
Lasko, P. and Lüthy, K. (2021) Investigating rare and ultrarare epilepsy syndromes with Drosophila models. Faculty Opinions 10: 10. PMID 33659928.
Kashkooli, L., Rozema, D., Espejo-Ramirez, L., Lasko, P., and Fagotto, F. (2021) Ectoderm to mesoderm transition by downregulation of actomyosin contractility. PLoS Biology 19 (1): e3001060. PMID 33406067.
Chaouch, A. and Lasko, P. (2021) Drosophila melanogaster: a fruitful model for oncohistones. Fly 15: 28-37. PMID 33423597.
Ramsay, C., Lasko, P., and Abouheif, E. (2021) Evo-devo lessons from the reproductive division of labour in eusocial Hymenoptera. In: Evolutionary Developmental Biology–A Reference Guide (eds. Nuño de la Rosa, L. and Müller, G. B.), Springer Nature Switzerland AG, p. 791-804. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-32979-6.
Kugler, J. M. and Lasko, P. (2020) Drosophila embryo: maternal interactions in specification of the anterior-posterior axis. Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, a1503.pub2, doi 10.1002/9780470015902.a0029150.
Hernández, G., Garcia, A., Lasko, P., and Sonenberg, N. (2020) Unorthodox mechanisms to initiate translation open novel paths for gene expression. J. Mol. Biol. 432: 166702. PMID 33166539.
Lasko, P. (2020) Patterning the Drosophila embryo: a paradigm for RNA-based developmental genetic regulation. WIReS RNA 11(6): e1610. PMID 32543002.
Krug, B., De Jay, N., Harutyunyan, A. S., Deshmukh, S., Marchione, D. M., Guilhamon, P., Bertrand, K. C., Mikael, L. G., McConechy, M. K., Chen, C., Khazaei, S., Koncar, R. F., Agnihotri, S., Faury, D., Ellezam, B., Weil, A. G., Urisini-Siegel, J., De Carvalho, D. D., Dirks, P. B., Lewis, P. W., Salomoni, P., Lupien, M., Arrowsmith, C., Lasko, P. F., Garcia, B. A., Kleinman, C. L., Jabado, N., and Mack, S. C. (2019) Pervasive H3K27 acetylation leads to ERV expression and a therapeutic vulnerability in H3K27M gliomas. Cancer Cell 35: 782-797. PMID 31085178.
Berlandi, J., Chaouch, A., De Jay, N., Tegeder, I., Thiel, K., Shirinian, M., Kleinman, C., Jeibmann, A., Lasko, P., Jabado, N., and Hasselblatt, M. (2019) Identification of genes functionally involved in the detrimental effects of mutant histone H3.3-K27M in Drosophila melanogaster. Neuro-Oncology, 21: 628-639. PMID 30715493.
Oriel, C. and Lasko, P. (2018) Recent developments in using Drosophila as a model for human genetic disease. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 19: E2041. PMID 30011838.
Dehghani, M. and Lasko, P. (2017) Multiple functions of the DEAD-box helicase Vasa in Drosophila oogenesis. Results Probl. Cell Differ. 63: 127-147. PMID 28779316.
Dehghani, M. and Lasko, P. (2016) C-terminal residues specific to Vasa among DEAD-box helicases are required for its functions in piRNA biogenesis and embryonic patterning. Dev. Genes Evol. 226: 401-412. PMID 27572922
Marygold, S. J., Attrill, H., and Lasko, P. (2016) The translation factors of Drosophila melanogaster. Fly 11: 65-74. PMID 27494710
Kowanda, M., Bergalet, J., Wieczorek, M., Brouhard, G., Lécuyer, É., and Lasko, P. (2016) Loss of function of the Drosophila Ninein-related centrosomal protein Bsg25D causes mitotic defects and impairs embryonic development. Biol. Open 5: 1040-1051. PMID 27422905
Valzania, L., Ono, H., Ignesti, M., Cavaliere, V., Bernardi, F., Gamberi, C., Lasko, P., and Gargiulo, G. (2016) Drosophila 4EHP is essential for the larval-pupal transition and required in the prothoracic gland for ecdysone biosynthesis. Dev. Biol. 410: 14-23. PMID 26721418
Liu, N. and Lasko, P. (2015) Analysis of RNA interference lines identifies new maternally-expressed genes involved in embryonic patterning in Drosophila melanogaster. G3-Genes, Genomes, Genetics 5: 1025-1034. PMID 25834215
Ghosh, S. and Lasko, P. (2015) Loss-of-function analysis reveals distinct requirements of the translation initiation factors eIF4E, eIF4E-3, eIF4G and eIF4G2 in Drosophila spermatogenesis. PLoS ONE 10(4): e0122519. PMID 25849588
Dehghani, M. and Lasko, P. (2015) In vivo mapping of functional regions of the DEAD-box helicase Vasa. Biol. Open 4: 450-462. PMID 25795910
Gao, M., Thomson, T. C., Creed, T. M., Tu, S., Loganathan, S. N., Jackson, C. A., McCluskey, P., Lin, Y., Collier, S. E., Weng, Z., Lasko, P., Ohi, M. D., and Arkov, A. L. (2015) Glycolytic enzymes localize to ribonucleoprotein granules in Drosophila germ cells, bind Tudor and protect from transposable elements. EMBO Rep. 16: 379-386. PMID 25600116
Ivshina, M., Lasko, P., and Richter, J. D. (2014) Cytoplasmic polyadenylation element binding proteins in development, health, and disease. Ann. Rev. Cell Dev. Biol. 30: 393-415. PMID 25068488
Solana, J., Gamberi, C., Mihaylova, Y., Grosswendt, S., Chen, C., Lasko, P., Rajewsky, N., and Aboobaker, A. A. (2013) The CCR4-NOT complex mediates deadenylation and degradation of stem cell mRNAs and promotes planarian stem cell differentiation. PLoS Genet. 9(12) e1004003. PMID 24367277
Lasko, P. (2013) The DEAD-box helicase Vasa: evidence for a multiplicity of functions in RNA processes and developmental biology. BBA-Gene Regulatory Mechanisms 1829: 810-816. PMID 23587717
Hernández, G., Miron, M., Han, H., Liu, N., Magescas, J., Tettweiler, G., Frank, F., Siddiqui, N., Sonenberg, N., and Lasko, P. (2013) Mextli is a novel eIF4E binding protein that promotes translation in Drosophila. Mol. Cell. Biol. 33: 2854-2864. PMID 23716590
Lasko, P. (2013) New wrinkles on genetic control of the MBT. Curr. Biol. 23: R65-R67. PMID 23347940
Gkogkas, C. G., Khoutorsky, A., Ran, I., Rampakakis, E., Nevarko, T., Weatherill, D. B., Vasuta, C., Yee, S., Paul, D., Truitt, M., Major, F., Lasko, P., Ruggero, D., Nader, K., Lacaille, J.-C., and Sonenberg, N. (2013) Autism-related defects via dysregulated eIF4E-dependent translational control. Nature 493: 371-377. PMID 23172145
Hernández, G., Han, H., Gandin, V., Fabian, L., Ferreira, T., Zuberek, J., Sonenberg, N., Brill, J. A., and Lasko, P. (2012) Eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-3 is essential for meiotic chromosome segregation, cytokinesis, and male fertility in Drosophila. Development 139: 3211-3220. PMID 22833128
Lasko, P. (2012) mRNA localization and translational control in Drosophila oogenesis. Cold Spring Harb. Perspect. Biol. 4(10): a012294. PMID 22865893
Kong, J. and Lasko. P. (2012) Translational control in cellular and developmental processes. Nature Rev. Genet. 13: 383-394. PMID 22568971
Richter, J. and Lasko, P. (2011) Translational control in oocyte development. Cold Spring Harb. Perspect. Biol. 3(9): a002758. PMID 21690213
Parsyan, A., Svitkin, Y., Shahbazian, D., Gkogkas, C., Lasko, P., Merrick, W., and Sonenberg, N. (2011) mRNA helicases—the tacticians of translational control. Nature Rev. Mol. Cell Biol 12: 235-245. PMID 21427765
Lasko, P. (2011) Post-transcriptional regulation in Drosophila oocytes and early embryos. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews 2: 408-416. PMID 21957026
Lasko, P. (2010) Tudor domain. Curr. Biol. 20: R666-R667. PMID 20728048
Kugler, J.-M., Lem, C., and Lasko, P. (2010) Reduced cul-5 activity causes aberrant follicular morphogenesis and germ cell loss in Drosophila. PLoS ONE 5(2): e9048. PMID 20140218
Kugler, J.-M., Woo, J.-S., Oh, B.-H., and Lasko, P. (2010) Competitive regulation of Drosophila Vasa in vivo through paralogous Cullin-RING E3 ligase specificity receptors. Mol. Cell. Biol. 30: 1769-1782. PMID 20123973
Kirino, Y., Vourekas, A., Sayed, N., de Lima Alves, F., Thomson, T., Lasko, P., Rappsilber, J., Jongens, T. A., and Mourelatos, Z. (2010) Arginine methylation of Aubergine mediates Tudor binding and germ plasm localization. RNA 16: 70-78. PMID 19926723
Hernández, G., Altmann, M., and Lasko, P. (2010) The origins and evolution of the mechanisms regulating translation initiation in eukaryotes. Trends Biochem. 35: 63-73. PMID 19926289