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Thijn Brummelkamp
Thijn Brummelkamp joined the Whitehead Institute as
a Fellow in 2004, shortly after completing his PhD from
the Netherlands Cancer Institute. His primary interest
is the field of cancer genetics.
Selected Achievements
• Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek Award (2003)
• NVBMB (Dutch association for biochemistry
and molecular biology) Award (2004)
• Chosen as one of the world's 35 Top Young Innovators by MIT's Technology Review magazine (2005)
• Kimmel Scholar Award (2006)
• First described stable RNA interference,
widely used to study gene function
•Assigned function to familial cylindromatosis
gene through RNAi library screens
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While the human genome has been sequenced, the function
of the vast majority of the genes in our genome remains
unknown. The next big challenge is to investigate the
functions of individual genes, and to find what role
they are playing in disease.
Brummelkamp has developed technologies to accelerate
genetic analysis of mammalian cells. A 'stable RNA interference'
process, which he and his colleagues first described,
is now widely used to manipulate and study gene function
in mammalian cells. Brummelkamp uses stable RNA interference
to inhibit thousands of human genes, in order to find
specific genes that play a role in human disease. More
specifically, he employs the process to identify cancer
cell vulnerabilities that can be targeted by new therapeutics.
As a training round for larger-scale RNAi screens to
uncover gene function, Brummelkamp and colleagues first
focused on a family of genes involved in ubiquitin removal,
a biochemical reaction that is highly relevant for human
cancer. Doing so they identified new functions for several
of these genes, leading to detailed molecular insights
into a poorly characterized form of hereditary skin
cancer.
Brummelkamp also uses RNAi techniques to study not
only how particular anti-cancer drugs work, but the
underlying molecular mechanisms that enable certain
cancers to resist many therapies over time.
He received his MS in biology from the Free University,
Amsterdam, in 1998. He did his graduate research at
The Netherlands Cancer Institute in the laboratory of
Rene Bernards and received his PhD cum laude in 2003
from Utrecht University.
Selected Publications
Camargo FD, Gokhale S, Johnnidis JB, Fu D, Bell GW, Jaenisch R, Brummelkamp TR. (2007)
YAP1 increases organ size and expands undifferentiated progenitor cells.
Curr Biol. Dec 4;17(23):2054-60.
Brummelkamp TR, Fabius AW, Mullenders J, Madiredjo M, Velds A, Kerkhoven RM, Bernards R, Beijersbergen RL. (2006)
An shRNA barcode screen provides insight into cancer cell vulnerability to MDM2 inhibitors. Nat Chem Biol. Apr;2(4):202-6.
Nijman SM, Luna-Vargas MP, Velds A, Brummelkamp TR, Dirac AM, Sixma TK, Bernards R. (2005)
A genomic and functional inventory of deubiquitinating enzymes. Cell. Dec 2;123(5):773-86.
Berns K, Hijmans EM, Mullenders J, Brummelkamp TR, Velds A, Heimerikx M, Kerkhoven RM, Madiredjo M, Nijkamp W, Weigelt B, Agami R, Ge W, Cavet G, Linsley PS, Beijersbergen RL, Bernards R. (2004)
A large-scale RNAi screen in human cells identifies new components of the p53 pathway. Nature. Mar 25;428(6981):431-7.
Brummelkamp TR, Nijman SM, Dirac AM, Bernards R. (2003)
Loss of the cylindromatosis tumour suppressor inhibits apoptosis by activating NF-kappaB. Nature. Aug 14;424(6950):797-801.
Brummelkamp TR, Bernards R, Agami R. (2002)
A system for stable expression of short interfering RNAs in mammalian cells. Science. Apr 19;296(5567):550-3.
[publications
(pubmed database)] |
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