Elena Pobezinskaya

Elena Pobezinskaya, Ph.D.

Research Assistant Professor

Elena Pobezinskaya, Ph.D.

Office phone: 413-545-2405

Email: pobezinskaya [at] umass [dot] edu

Office location: 427 WestE ISB

Mailing address:

661 North Pleasant Street
Amherst, Mass 01003

Co-PI Leonid A. Pobezinsky

Ph.D.: Cancer Research Center (Moscow, Russia)/Jackson Lab (Bar Harbor, ME), 2002
MS: Moscow State University, Russia
Postdoctoral Training: Cell and Cancer Biology Branch, NIH/NCI

Awards: Fellows Award for Research Excellence, 2009

Our research is focused on identification and characterization of tumor-associated microRNAs (miRNAs) and understanding their function in physiological and pathological settings.

MiRNAs have been implicated in multiple biological processes, including development, differentiation and transformation of tissues and organs. Some miRNAs are considered to be tumor suppressor or oncogenic miRNAs (oncomirs) and their expression in different tumors is downregulated or upregulated, respectively. Recent studies have suggested involvement of oncomirs in initiation and progression of cancer, metastasis and chemotherapy-resistance. Mechanisms of action of these miRNAs are just starting to emerge. Transcriptional regulation of oncomir expression is also largely unknown.

Understanding the function of oncomirs in health and disease, identifying their target genes and elucidating the ways to manipulate their expression may lead to development of new exciting strategies for anti-cancer therapies.

Pobezinskaya YL, Liu Z, Choksi S.  2014.  Dissecting DR3 signaling.. Methods Mol Biol. 1155:15-22.
Zhang Y, Choksi S, Chen K, Pobezinskaya Y, Linnoila I, Liu Z-G.  2013.  ROS play a critical role in the differentiation of alternatively activated macrophages and the occurrence of tumor-associated macrophages.. Cell Res. 23(7):898-914.
Pobezinskaya YL, Liu Z.  2012.  The role of TRADD in death receptor signaling.. Cell Cycle. 11(5):871-6.
Choksi S, Lin Y, Pobezinskaya Y, Chen L, Park C, Morgan M, Li T, Jitkaew S, Cao X, Kim Y-S et al..  2011.  A HIF-1 target, ATIA, protects cells from apoptosis by modulating the mitochondrial thioredoxin, TRX2.. Mol Cell. 42(5):597-609.
Pobezinskaya YL, Choksi S, Morgan MJ, Cao X, Liu Z-G.  2011.  The adaptor protein TRADD is essential for TNF-like ligand 1A/death receptor 3 signaling.. J Immunol. 186(9):5212-6.
Cao X, Pobezinskaya YL, Morgan MJ, Liu Z-G.  2011.  The role of TRADD in TRAIL-induced apoptosis and signaling.. FASEB J. 25(4):1353-8.
Pobezinskaya YL, Kim Y-S, Choksi S, Morgan MJ, Li T, Liu C, Liu Z.  2008.  The function of TRADD in signaling through tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 and TRIF-dependent Toll-like receptors.. Nat Immunol. 9(9):1047-54.
Pobezinskaya Y, Chervonsky AV, Golovkina TV.  2004.  Initial stages of mammary tumor virus infection are superantigen independent.. J Immunol. 172(9):5582-7.
Jude BA, Pobezinskaya Y, Bishop J, Parke S, Medzhitov RM, Chervonsky AV, Golovkina TV.  2003.  Subversion of the innate immune system by a retrovirus.. Nat Immunol. 4(6):573-8.