Cell Trafficking

Cell Adhesion and Cancer
Principal investigator
Johanna Ivaska, PhD, Professor of Molecular Cell Biology
Turku Centre for Biotechnology, University of Turku,
Tykistökatu 6A, 20520 Turku, Finland
Tel.: +358 2 333 7954, Fax: +358 2 251 8808
E-mail: Johanna.Ivaska@utu.fi
Research
Integrins and receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are
cell surface receptors mediating biological
functions such as cell survival, proliferation and cell
migration. Integrins, through direct binding to
extracellular molecules, provide a physical link
between the cell cytoskeleton and the surrounding
environment and signal by recruiting adaptor and
signalling proteins to their cytoplasmic domain. The
loss or perturbation of mechanisms that would
normally control integrin-mediated cell adhesion or
RTK signaling is associated with a number of
diseases including cancer metastasis. Our focus is to
investigate how integrin traffic, activity and
signalling are regulated under normal and
pathological conditions. To this effect we have
performed genome-wide screens, to identify
regulators of integrin traffic and signalling, and drug
screens to identify key targets implicated in cancer
cell invasion.
Links: https://www.btk.fi/research/research-groups/ivaska/
Current topics
 Dissecting
integrin
trafficking
pathways
regulating signaling and migration
 Investigating SHARPIN-mediated regulation of
integrins in tissue morphogenesis and cancer
 Defining the role of myosin-X and filopodia in
cancer cell invasion
 Investigating novel regulators of integrin activity
 Integrin-RTK crosstalk
Personnel
Senior scientists/post docs
Antti Arjonen, Maria Georgiadou,
Guillaume Jacquemet, Anja Mai,
Elisa Närvä, Emilia Peuhu
PhD students
Jonna Alanko, Nicola De Franceschi,
Riina Kaukonen, Johanna Lilja,
Pranshu Sahgal, Reetta Virtakoivu
Technicians
Petra Laasola, Jenni Siivonen,
Markku Saari (Microscope Technician)
Research support coordinator
Hellyeh Hamidi
Recent publications (2011-)
Rantala JK, Pouwels J, Pellinen T, Veltel S, Laasola P,
Mattila E, Potter C, Duffy T, Sundberg JP, Askari JA,
Humphries M, Kallioniemi O, Parsons M, Salmi M, Ivaska J.
SHARPIN is an endogenous inhibitor of beta1-integrin
activation. Nat Cell Biol 13(11):1315-24, 2011.
Mai A, Veltel S, Pellinen T, Padzik A, Coffey E, Marjomäki V,
Ivaska J. Competitive binding of Rab21 and p120RasGAP to
integrins regulates receptor trafficking in migrating cancer
cells. J Cell Biol 194(2):291-306, 2011.
Pellinen T, Rantala JK, Arjonen A, Mpindi JP, Kallioniemi O,
Ivaska J. A functional genetic screen reveals new regulators
of beta1-integrin activity. J Cell Sci 125(Pt3):649-61, 2012.
Pouwels J, De Franceschi N. Rantakari P, Auvinen K,
Karikoski M, Mattila E, Potter C, Sundberg J, Hogg N,
Gahmberg CG, Salmi M, Ivaska J. SHARPIN regulates
uropod detachment in migrating lymphocytes. Cell Rep
5(3):619-28, 2013.
Arjonen A, Kaukonen R, Mattila E, Rouhi P, Högnäs G, Sihto
H, Miller BW, Morton JP, Bucher E, Taimen P, Virtakoivu R,
Cao Y, Sansom OJ, Joensuu H, Ivaska J. Mutant p53associated myosin-X upregulation promotes breast cancer
invasion and metastasis. J Clin Invest 124(3):1069-108,
2014.