Leading Researcher, Doctor Habilitation (Oncology)

Head of the Laboratory of Molecular Mechanisms of Cells Transformation

Tel +38 (098) 237-83-27

E-mail lenakash@yahoo.com, kashuba@nas.gov.ua

Directions of research

• Analysis of receptor-mediated signaling cascades in cells, with the aim to find potential targets for tumor diagnostics and therapy
• Study on molecular mechanisms of cell transformation in order to identify new diagnostic and/or prognostic markers for carcinogenesis

Keywords

• Cell signaling, CD150 receptors, malignant cell transformation, mitochondrial ribosomal protein S18-2 (MRPS18-2), Epstein-Barr virus, differentiation, cell stemness

Research activities

Higher education

• Master of Science in Inorganic Chemistry (1983), T. Shevchenko Kyiv State University, Faculty of Chemistry, Kyiv, Ukraine
• PhD in Chemistry (1987), L.V. Pisarzhevsky Institute of Physical Chemistry of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU), Kyiv, Ukraine
• PhD in tumor biology (2003), Karolinska Institutet, Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology (MTC), Stockholm, Sweden
• Associated Professor (2009) in tumor biology, Karolinska Institutet, MTC
• DrHab in oncology (2013) RE. Kavetsky Institute of Experimental Pathology, Oncology and Radiobiology (IEPOR) of NASU, Kyiv, Ukraine

 Positions

• 1983 — 1987 graduate student, L.V. Pisarzhevsky Institute of Physical Chemistry of NASU
• 1986 — 1990 — junior researcher, L.V. Pisarzhevsky Institute of Physical Chemistry of NASU
• 1990 — 1993. Researcher, L.V. Pisarzhevsky Institute of Physical Chemistry of NASU
• 1993 — 1998 Guest researcher (postdoc) at MTC, Karolinska Institutet
• 1998-2003 PhD student at MTC, Karolinska Institutet, medical sciences (tumor biology)
• 2004 — 2013 senior researcher at RE. Kavetsky IEPOR of NASU
• 2004 — 20013 (part-time) Senior Researcher, MTC, Karolinska Institutet
• 2008 — visiting researcher, Rappaport Medical Faculty, Technion, Haifa, Israel (laboratory of Prof. Aaron Ciechanover), two months
• since 2009 — Associated professor, at MTC, Karolinska Institutet (associate)
• since 2014 — at RE. Kavetsky IEPOR of NASU
• 2014 — visiting researcher, Riga Stradins University, A. Kirchshtein Institute of Virology, one month
• 2016 — visiting researcher, Riga Stradins University, A. Kirchshtein Institute of Virology., one month

Invited lecturer

• 2009 BIT's 2nd Annual World Cancer Congress, Beijing, China, June 22-25
• 2009 International conference "Progenitor Cells, Micro-Environment and Cell Fusion in Cancer Progression", Djurönäset, Sweden, October 8-11
• 2010 MTC Annual Talks, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, May 20-21
• 2011 Pepcon 2011, Beijing, China, March 23-25
• 2011 Virology-2011, Baltimore, USA, September 5-8
• 2013 2nd Ukrainian-Swedish Workshop on Cancer, Kyiv, Ukraine, May 20-21 (organizer)
• 2014 BaltInfect meeting, Riga, Latvia, April 2-3

Supervision of PhD students

1. Suhas Darekar (MTC, Karolisnka Institutet), since March 2009, defended his PhD thesis on May 30, 2013
2. Muhammad Mushtaq (MTC, Karolinska Institutet), since September 2012, defended his PhD thesis on May 22, 2017
3. Alina Matveyeva (RE. Kavetsky IEPOR of NASU), from November 2014, the defence of the PhD thesis is scheduled for 2019

Membership

• Member of the EBV Association since 1998
• Member of ESGO Association since 2013
• Member of SFBBM (Svenska föreningen för biokemi, biofysik och molekylärbiologi) since 2014
• Member of the Association of Female Scholars (Kvinnliga Akademikers Förening) since 2015
• Member of the Association of Oncologists of Ukraine since 2016

Publications

82 publications, among them 6 review articles and 3 patents of the USSR.

Selected publications (last 5 years)

1. Mushtaq M, Jensen L, Davidsson S, Grygoruk OV, Andrén O, Kashuba V, Kashuba E. The MRPS18-2 protein levels correlate with prostate tumor progression and it induces CXCR4-dependent migration of cancer cells. Sci Rep. 2018 Feb 2;8(1):2268
2. Matveeva A, Kovalevska L, Kholodnyuk I, Ivanivskaya T, Kashuba E. The TGF- beta — SMAD pathway is inactivated in cronic lymphocytic leukemia cells. Exp Oncol. 2017 Dec; 39(4): 286-290
3. Buivydiene A, Liakina V, Valantinas J, Norkuniene J, Mockiene E, Jokubauskiene S, Smaliukiene R, Jancoriene L, Kovalevska L, Kashuba E. Expression Levels of the Uridine-Cytidine Kinase Like-1 Protein as a Novel Prognostic Factor for Hepatitis C Virus-Associated Hepatocellular Carcinomas. Acta Naturae. 2017 Jul-Sep; 9(3): 108-114
4. Mushtaq M, Pangigadde PN, Darekar S, Dissen E, Kashuba E. Rat embryonic fibroblasts immortalized by MRPS18-2 protein are target for NK-cells. Oncotarget. 2017 May 4; 8(39): 64907-64917
5. Kholodnyuk I, Rudevica Z, Leonciks A, Ehlin-Henriksson B, Kashuba E. Expression of the chemokine receptors CCR1 and CCR2B is up-regulated in peripheral blood B cells upon EBV infection and in established lymphoblastoid cell lines. Virology. 2017 Dec; 512: 1-7
6. Mushtaq M, Ali RH, Kashuba V, Klein G, Kashuba E. S18 family of mitochondrial ribosomal proteins. evolutionary history and Gly132 polymorphism in colon carcinoma. Oncotarget. 2016, 7(34): 55649-55662
7. Mints M, Mushtaq M, Iurchenko N, Kovalevska L, Stip MC, Budnikova D, Andersson S, Polischuk L, Buchynska L, Kashuba E. Mitochondrial ribosomal protein S18-2 is highly expressed in endometrial cancers along with free E2F1. Oncotarget. 2016, 7(16): 22150-22158
8. Mushtaq M, Darekar S, Klein G, Kashuba E. Different Mechanisms of Regulation of the Warburg Effect in Lymphoblastoid and Burkitt Lymphoma Cells. PLoS One. 2015, 10(8): e0136142
9. Darekar SD, Mushtaq M, Gurrapu S, Kovalevska L, Drummond C, Petruchek M, Tirinato L, Di Fabrizio E, Carbone E, Kashuba E. Mitochondrial ribosomal protein S18-2 evokes chromosomal instability and transforms primary rat skin fibroblasts. Oncotarget. 2015, 6(25): 21016-21028

Review / discussions

10. Kashuba E, Mushtaq M. Do MRPS18-2 and RB proteins cooperate to control cell stemness and differentiation, preventing cancer development? Exp Oncol. 2017, 39(1): 12-16
11. Mushtaq M, Gaza HV, Kashuba EV. Role of the RB-Interacting Proteins in StemCell Biology. Adv Cancer Res. 2016, 131: 133-57
12. Mushtaq M, Darekar S, Kashuba E. DNA Tumor Viruses and Cell Metabolism. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2016, 2016: 6468342. doi. 10.1155/2016/6468342

 

Grants

• 0115U001380 «Creation of a molecular system for the delivery of specific proteins to tumor cells on the basis of the study of the interaction of gold nanoparticles with proteins of various classes», within the framework of the target comprehensive research program of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine «Fundamental problems of the creation of new nanomaterials and nanotechnologies» for 2015-2019
• 0115U005687 "The role of MRPS18-2 protein in cell cycle and carcinogenesis regulation", which is being carried out within the framework of a joint Ukrainian-Indian research project within the framework of Ukrainian-Indian cooperation for 2015-2017. Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine
• 0116U005456 "Study of expression of XAP-2, UCKL-1 and MRPS18-2 proteins interacting with nuclear antigens of the Epstein-Barr virus in hepatocellular carcinoma samples compared with normal liver tissue" within the framework of the joint Ukrainian-Lithuanian research project for 2016 – 2017. Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine
• Lilian Sagen och Kurt Ericsson Forskningsstiftelse (Sweden), 2018-2019
• Emil och Vera Cornell Forskningsstiftelse (Sweden), 2017-2018 і 2018-2019
• Gösta Milton Forskningsstiftelse (Sweden), 2016-2017
• Twinning on DNA-based cancer vaccines (VACTRAIN), Horizon 2020, 12/01/2015 – 11/30/18, as a leader of IEPOR team (PI)

Awards

• 2011 — A personal award for honors from the Karolinska Institute's Science Foundation