Lymphoma and Leukaemia Research Laboratory

Group Leader:
George Z. Rassidakis, MD, PhD

Contact:
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
School of Medicine
First Department of Pathology
75 Mikras Asias str., Goudi, Athens
GR-11527, GREECE
grassidakis@hotmail.com

Afiliation:
Department of Hematopathology, The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA

Funding:
1- NIH LEUKEMIA SPORE Career Development Award
2- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
3- The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
4- Hellenic Association for Molecular Cancer Research
5- Greek Ministry of Education

Description:
1- NPM-ALK signalling
2- AP-1 transcription factors in anaplastic large cell lymphoma oncogenesis
3- mTOR pathway in lymphomagenesis and leukemogenesis
4- Re-activation of p53 as a therapeutic target in lymphomas

Publications:
1- Rassidakis G.Z., Sarris A.H., Herling M, Ford R, Cabanillas F, McDonnell T.J., Medeiros L.J. Differential expression of BCL-2 family proteins in ALK-positive and ALK-negative anaplastic large cell lymphoma of T / null-cell lineage. Am J Pathol, 2001; 159(2):527-35

2- Rassidakis G.Z., Feretzaki M, Atwell C, Grammatikakis I, Lin Q, Lai R, Claret FX, Medeiros LJ, Amin HM. Inhibition of Akt increases p27Kip1 levels and induces cell cycle arrest in anaplastic large cell lymphoma. Blood, 2005; 105(2):827-9. Epub 2004 Sep 16

3- Rassidakis G.Z., Thomaides A, Wang S, Jiang Y, Fourtouna A, Lai R, Medeiros LJ. p53 Mutations are Uncommon but p53 is Commonly Expressed in ALK+ and ALK- Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma. Leukemia, 2005 Sep;19(9):1663-9.

4- Vega F, Medeiros LJ, Leventaki V, Atwell C, Cho-Vega JH, Tian L, Claret F-X, Rassidakis G.Z. Activation of mTOR Signaling Pathway Contributes to Tumor Cell Survival in ALK+ Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma. Cancer Res. 2006 Jul 1;66(13):6589-97.

5- Leventaki V, Drakos E, Medeiros LJ, Lim MS, Elenitoba-Johnson KS, Claret FX, Rassidakis G.Z. NPM-ALK oncogenic kinase promotes cell-cycle progression through activation of JNK/cJun signaling in anaplastic large-cell lymphoma. Blood. 2007 Sep 1;110(5):1621-30. Epub 2007 Apr 6

Tools:
ALK+ ALCL cell lines: Karpas299, SU-DHL1, SUP-M2, DEL, SR-786
NPM-ALK constructs
Adenoviral and lentiviral vectors
Human ALCL tissue microarrays

Techniques:
In vitro studies
SCID mouse model for ALCL
Gene silencing (siRNA and shRNA)
EMSA, Luciferace assays etc.
Immunofluorescence / confocal microscopy