Nahum Sonenberg
James McGill Professor, Department of Biochemistry
1976 - PhD, Weizmann Institute of Science
Awards:
Recipient of the Robert L. Noble Prize of the National Cancer Institute of Canada, the Killiam Prize for Health Sciences, the Gairdner Foundation International Award, and the Wolf Prize in Medicine, among many others.
Translational control mechanisms
Nahum Sonenberg’s research focuses on a common aim – to reveal how the central and fundamental process of protein synthesis is controlled in animal cells, and the means by which this control is subverted by pathogens, and in diseases such as cancer, virus infections and neurodevelopmental disorders. There are therapeutic applications to many of his discoveries including novel gene therapy approaches, drug targets for cancer treatment, and antiviral therapeutics. He made important discoveries concerning the basic mechanism and regulation of translation in eukaryotic systems that impact on a large range of biological mechanisms.
Dr. Sonenberg’s cancer related research program:
1) Translational control of cancer:
a) binding to repressor proteins, the eIF4E-binding proteins (4E-BPs)
b) phosphorylation by ERK signalling (MNK1/2)
c) translation regulation by mTORC1.
2) Basic understanding of translation initiation and scanning mechanism.
3) Translation control during viral infection and it’s therapeutic potential.
4) Mechanism of miÏ㽶ÊÓƵ action in translation and mÏ㽶ÊÓƵ decay.
5) Translation control during stem cell and pluripotency.
