Education

Ph.D in molecular cancer biology from the University of Helsinki in 1997

Current Position

Research Director of the Medical Faculty, University of Helsinki
Vice-Director (shared duties) and Principal Investigator at Cancer Cell Circuitry Laboratory in Translational Cancer Biology Research Program of the Medical Faculty

Publications (selected)

1. Tervonen, T. A., Belitskin, D., Pant, S. M., Englund, J. I., Marques, E., Ala-Hongisto, H., Nevalaita, L., Sihto, H., Heikkila, P., Leidenius, M., Hewitson, K., Ramachandra, M., Moilanen, A., Joensuu, H., Kovanen, P. E., Poso, A. and Klefstrom, J. (2016). Deregulated hepsin protease activity confers oncogenicity by concomitantly augmenting HGF/MET signalling and disrupting epithelial cohesion. Oncogene 35(14): 1832-1846.
2. Marques, E., Englund, J. I., Tervonen, T. A., Virkunen, E., Laakso, M., Myllynen, M., Makela, A., Ahvenainen, M., Lepikhova, T., Monni, O., Hautaniemi, S. and Klefstrom, J. (2016). Par6G suppresses cell proliferation and is targeted by loss-of-function mutations in multiple cancers. Oncogene 35(11): 1386-1398.
3. Haikala, H. M., Klefstrom, J., Eilers, M. and Wiese, K. E. (2016). MYC-induced apoptosis in mammary epithelial cells is associated with repression of lineage-specific gene signatures. Cell Cycle 15(3): 316-323.
4. Werner, S., Brors, B., Eick, J., Marques, E., Pogenberg, V., Parret, A., Kemming, D., Wood, A. W., Edgren, H., Neubauer, H., Streichert, T., Riethdorf, S., Bedi, U., Baccelli, I., Jucker, M., Eils, R., Fehm, T., Trumpp, A., Johnsen, S. A., Klefstrom, J., Wilmanns, M., Muller, V., Pantel, K. and Wikman, H. (2015). Suppression of early hematogenous dissemination of human breast cancer cells to bone marrow by retinoic Acid-induced 2. Cancer Discov 5(5): 506-519.
5. Wiese, K. E., Haikala, H. M., von Eyss, B., Wolf, E., Esnault, C., Rosenwald, A., Treisman, R., Klefstrom, J. and Eilers, M. (2015). Repression of SRF target genes is critical for Myc-dependent apoptosis of epithelial cells. EMBO J 34(11): 1554-1571.
6. Myant, K., Qiao, X., Halonen, T., Come, C., Laine, A., Janghorban, M., Partanen, J. I., Cassidy, J., Ogg, E. L., Cammareri, P., Laitera, T., Okkeri, J., Klefstrom, J., Sears, R. C., Sansom, O. J. and Westermarck, J. (2015). Serine 62-Phosphorylated MYC Associates with Nuclear Lamins and Its Regulation by CIP2A Is Essential for Regenerative Proliferation. Cell Rep 12(6): 1019-1031.
7. Khanna, A., Kauko, O., Bockelman, C., Laine, A., Schreck, I., Partanen, J. I., Szwajda, A., Bormann, S., Bilgen, T., Helenius, M., Pokharel, Y. R., Pimanda, J., Russel, M. R., Haglund, C., Cole, K. A., Klefstrom, J., Aittokallio, T., Weiss, C., Ristimaki, A., Visakorpi, T. and Westermarck, J. (2013). Chk1 targeting reactivates PP2A tumor suppressor activity in cancer cells. Cancer Res 73(22): 6757-6769.
8. Nieminen, A. I., Eskelinen, V. M., Haikala, H. M., Tervonen, T. A., Yan, Y., Partanen, J. I. and Klefstrom, J. (2013). Myc-induced AMPK-phospho p53 pathway activates Bak to sensitize mitochondrial apoptosis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 110(20): E1839-1848.
9. Partanen, J. I., Tervonen, T. A., Myllynen, M., Lind, E., Imai, M., Katajisto, P., Dijkgraaf, G. J., Kovanen, P. E., Makela, T. P., Werb, Z. and Klefstrom, J. (2012). Tumor suppressor function of Liver kinase B1 (Lkb1) is linked to regulation of epithelial integrity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 109(7): E388-397.
10. Partanen, J. I., Nieminen, A. I., Makela, T. P. and Klefstrom, J. (2007). Suppression of oncogenic properties of c-Myc by LKB1-controlled epithelial organization. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104(37): 14694-14699.
11. Nieminen, A. I., Partanen, J. I. and Klefstrom, J. (2007). c-Myc blazing a trail of death: coupling of the mitochondrial and death receptor apoptosis pathways by c-Myc. Cell Cycle 6(20): 2464-2472.