Keywords

Apoptosis; Calcium Signaling; Melanoma, Experimental; Neuroblastoma; Ryanodine Receptor Calcium Release Channel; Signal Transduction; Signalling by G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)

Research group(s)

• Hohenegger Lab

Research interests

My current research focus covers pharmacological strategies to impair survival ov cancer cells, in particular melanoma and neuroblastoma . We try to understand the importantance of key nodes in signalling pathways as a prerequisit for elucidation of novel drug targets. Beside, we try to describe on molecular level drug side effects and drug resistance  in order to contribute to enhanced drug safety.

We are also interested in the nucleotide NAADP, which is the most potent Ca2+ releaser.
Little is known about regulation of it´s synthesis and physiological signalling. We try to understand the role of  NAADP signalling in skeletal and cardiac muscle.

Techniques, methods & infrastructure

A broad spectrum of techniques used in biochemical, cell biological and imaging research is performed. We are familiar with enzyme kinetics, ligand binding studies and chemical modification of proteins and delineation of signaling pathways. As a source for these analyses we use material from cell lines, primary cells and tissue from in vivo model organisms.

Selected publications

1. Wasinger, C. et al., 2018. Amino Acid Signature in Human Melanoma Cell Lines from Different Disease Stages. Scientific Reports, 8(1). Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-24709-0.
2. Wasinger, C. et al., 2014. Autocrine secretion of 15d-PGJ 2 mediates simvastatin-induced apoptotic burst in human metastatic melanoma cells . Br J Pharmacol, 171(24), pp.5708-5727. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bph.12871.
3. Dammermann, W. et al., 2009. NAADP-mediated Ca2+ signaling via type 1 ryanodine receptor in T cells revealed by a synthetic NAADP antagonist. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(26), pp.10678-10683. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0809997106.
4. Sacher J, Weigl L, Werner M, Szegedi C, Hohenegger M. Delineation of myotoxicity induced by 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl CoA reductase inhibitors in human skeletal muscle cells. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2005 Sep;314(3):1032-41.
5. Hohenegger M, Suko J, Gscheidlinger R, Drobny H, Zidar A. Nicotinic acid-adenine dinucleotide phosphate activates the skeletal muscle ryanodine receptor. Biochem J. 2002 Oct 15;367(Pt 2):423-31.