Pirjo Apaja

Pirjo Apaja

School of Biological Sciences

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

A/Prof Apaja is a principal investigator of Organelle Proteostasis Diseases laboratory in Molecular and Biomedical Sciences and SA Health and Medical Research Institute

Physiological conditions such as ageing, inflammation, stress insults as well as many brain diseases, cancers and numerous Mendelian diseases are directly driven or cause a short or long-term dysbalance in protein homeostasis.

This research is focused on finding ways to reprogram Protein Homeostasis (Proteostasis) Stress in human diseases, specifically through post-translational signalling and surveillance quality control systems to adapt to changing physiological conditions.

We are focusing on identifying key proteostasis networks, compounds and post-translational modifications in inflammation-related diseases, specifically connected to membrane organelle/protein targets in cancers, neurodegenerative and other brain diseases.

The research combines screenings, omics and protein networks, testing of targeted compounds, advance light microscopy for protein and membrane organelles with other biochemical and cell biological approaches in disease models.

 

  • Journals
    Year Citation
    2025 Ben, W. B., & Pirjo, A. M. (2025). ATG8 in single membranes: Fresh players of endocytosis and acidic organelle quality control in cancer, neurodegeneration, and inflammation. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 749, 8 pages.
    DOI
    2025 Wang, B. B., & Apaja, P. M. (2025). Corrigendum to “ATG8 in single membranes: Fresh players of endocytosis and acidic organelle quality control in cancer, neurodegeneration, and inflammation” [Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 749 (2025) 151384] (Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (2025) 749, (S0006291X25000981), (10.1016/j.bbrc.2025.151384)). Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 755, 1 page.
    DOI
    2023 Rashidieh, B., Bain, A. L., Tria, S. M., Sharma, S., Stewart, C. A., Simmons, J. L., . . . Khanna, K. K. (2023). Alpha-B-Crystallin overexpression is sufficient to promote tumorigenesis and metastasis in mice. Experimental Hematology & Oncology, 12(1), 1-19.
    DOI Scopus3 Europe PMC1
    2022 Wang, B. B., Xu, H., Isenmann, S., Huang, C., Elorza-Vidal, X., Rychkov, G. Y., . . . Apaja, P. M. (2022). Ubr1-induced selective endophagy/autophagy protects against the endosomal and Ca²⁺-induced proteostasis disease stress. Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS, 79(3), 167-1-167-22.
    DOI Scopus8 WoS2 Europe PMC7
    2022 Wang, B. B., & Apaja, P. M. (2022). Reprogramming endo-lysosomal proteostasis disease stress by UBR1- and arginylation-driven endophagy and autophagy protein quality control. Autophagy Reports, 1(1), 260-263.
    DOI
    2022 Wang, B. B., Xu, H., Isenmann, S., Huang, C., Elorza-Vidal, X., Rychkov, G. Y., . . . Apaja, P. M. (2022). Ubr1-induced selective endo-phagy/autophagy protects against the endosomal and Ca2+-induced proteostasis disease stress. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 79(3).
    DOI
    2021 Kazan, J. M., Desrochers, G., Martin, C. E., Jeong, H., Kharitidi, D., Apaja, P. M., . . . Pause, A. (2021). Endofin is required for HD-PTP and ESCRT-0 interdependent endosomal sorting of ubiquitinated transmembrane cargoes. iScience, 24(11), 27 pages.
    DOI Scopus8 WoS5 Europe PMC9
    2021 Xu, H., Isenmann, S., López-Hernández, T., Estévez, R., Lukacs, G. L., & Apaja, P. M. (2021). Control of membrane protein homeostasis by a chaperone-like glial cell adhesion molecule at multiple subcellular locations. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 17 pages.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS3 Europe PMC5
    2019 Kazan, J. M., Lukacs, G. L., Apaja, P. M., & Pause, A. (2019). Single Cell Fluorescence Ratio Image Analysis for Studying ESCRT Function in Receptor Trafficking. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 1998, 93-103.
    DOI Scopus5 Europe PMC6
    2018 Okiyoneda, T., Veit, G., Sakai, R., Aki, M., Fujihara, T., Higashi, M., . . . Lukacs, G. L. (2018). Chaperone-Independent Peripheral Quality Control of CFTR by RFFL E3 Ligase. Developmental Cell, 44(6), 694-708.e7.
    DOI Scopus55 WoS35 Europe PMC48
    2017 Bagdany, M., Veit, G., Fukuda, R., Avramescu, R. G., Okiyoneda, T., Baaklini, I., . . . Lukacs, G. L. (2017). Chaperones rescue the energetic landscape of mutant CFTR at single molecule and in cell. Nature Communications, 8(1), 15 pages.
    DOI Scopus54 WoS50 Europe PMC48
    2017 Gaitán-Peñas, H., Apaja, P., Arnedo, T., Castellanos, A., Elorza-Vidal, X., Soto, D., . . . Estévez, R. (2017). Leukoencephalopathy-causing CLCN2 mutations are associated with impaired Cl− channel function and trafficking. Journal of Physiology, 595(22), 6993-7008.
    DOI Scopus27 WoS22 Europe PMC25
    2017 Hein, L., Apaja, P., Hattersley, K., Grose, R., Xie, J., Proud, C., & Sargeant, T. (2017). A novel fluorescent probe reveals starvation controls the commitment of amyloid precursor protein to the lysosome. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Molecular Cell Research, 1864(10), 1554-1565.
    DOI Scopus19 WoS14 Europe PMC13
    2016 Veit, G., Oliver, K., Apaja, P., Perdomo, D., Bidaud-Meynard, A., Lin, S., . . . Lukacs, G. (2016). Ribosomal stalk protein silencing partially corrects the ΔF508-CFTR functional expression defect. PLoS Biology, 14(5), e1002462-1-e1002462-32.
    DOI Scopus47 Europe PMC43
    2016 Veit, G., Oliver, K., Apaja, P. M., Perdomo, D., Bidaud-Meynard, A., Lin, S. -T., . . . Lukacs, G. L. (2016). Ribosomal Stalk Protein Silencing Partially Corrects the ΔF508-CFTR Functional Expression Defect. PLOS BIOLOGY, 14(5), 32 pages.
    DOI WoS41
    2015 Kharitidi, D., Apaja, P. M., Manteghi, S., Suzuki, K., Malitskaya, E., Roldan, A., . . . Pause, A. (2015). Interplay of Endosomal pH and Ligand Occupancy in Integrin α5β1 Ubiquitination, Endocytic Sorting, and Cell Migration. Cell Reports, 13(3), 599-609.
    DOI Scopus51 WoS39 Europe PMC47
    2014 Veit, G., Avramescu, R. G., Perdomo, D., Phuan, P. W., Bagdany, M., Apaja, P. M., . . . Lukacs, G. L. (2014). Cystic fibrosis: Some gating potentiators, including VX-770, diminish ΔF508-CFTR functional expression. Science Translational Medicine, 6(246), 13 pages.
    DOI Scopus264 WoS239 Europe PMC214
    2014 Chu, C. Y., King, J., Berrini, M., Rumley, A. C., Apaja, P. M., Lukacs, G. L., . . . Cordat, E. (2014). Degradation mechanism of a Golgi-retained distal renal tubular acidosis mutant of the kidney anion exchanger 1 in renal cells. American Journal of Physiology - Cell Physiology, 307(3), C296-C307.
    DOI Scopus13 WoS11 Europe PMC9
    2014 Apaja, P. M., & Lukacs, G. L. (2014). Protein homeostasis at the plasma membrane. Physiology, 29(4), 265-277.
    DOI Scopus40 WoS30 Europe PMC31
    2013 Apaja, P. M., Foo, B., Okiyoneda, T., Valinsky, W. C., Barriere, H., Atanasiu, R., . . . Shrier, A. (2013). Ubiquitination-dependent quality control of hERG K+ channel with acquired and inherited conformational defect at the plasma membrane. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 24(24), 3787-3804.
    DOI Scopus41 WoS31 Europe PMC38
    2013 Capdevila-Nortes, X., López-Hernández, T., Apaja, P. M., de Heredia, M. L., Sirisi, S., Callejo, G., . . . Estévez, R. (2013). Insights into MLC pathogenesis: GlialCAM is an MLC1 chaperone required for proper activation of volume-regulated anion currents. Human Molecular Genetics, 22(21), 4405-4416.
    DOI Scopus47 WoS42 Europe PMC42
    2012 Apaja, P. M., Okiyondea, T., Barriere, H., Lam, H., Atanasiu, R., Foo, B., . . . Shrier, A. (2012). hERG Quality Control at the Plasma Membrane. BIOPHYSICAL JOURNAL, 102(3), 677A.
    DOI
    2011 Okiyoneda, T., Apaja, P. M., & Lukacs, G. L. (2011). Protein quality control at the plasma membrane. Current Opinion in Cell Biology, 23(4), 483-491.
    DOI Scopus68 WoS61 Europe PMC59
    2011 Barrière, H., Apaja, P., Okiyoneda, T., & Lukacs, G. L. (2011). Endocytic Sorting of CFTR Variants Monitored by Single-Cell Fluorescence Ratiometric Image Analysis (FRIA) in Living Cells. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 741, 301-317.
    DOI Scopus13 Europe PMC12
    2010 Apaja, P. M., Xu, H., & Lukacs, G. L. (2010). Quality control for unfolded proteins at the plasma membrane. Journal of Cell Biology, 191(3), 553-570.
    DOI Scopus51 WoS49 Europe PMC46
    2007 Tuusa, J. T., Markkanen, P. M. H., Apaja, P. M., Hakalahti, A. E., & Petäjä-Repo, U. E. (2007). The Endoplasmic Reticulum Ca<sup>2+</sup>-pump SERCA2b Interacts with G Protein-coupled Receptors and Enhances their Expression at the Cell Surface. Journal of Molecular Biology, 371(3), 622-638.
    DOI Scopus19 WoS16 Europe PMC18
    2006 Apaja, P. M., Tuusa, J. T., Pietilä, E. M., Rajaniemi, H. J., & Petäjä-Repo, U. E. (2006). Luteinizing hormone receptor ectodomain splice variant misroutes the full-length receptor into a subcompartment of the endoplasmic reticulum. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 17(5), 2243-2255.
    DOI Scopus45 WoS42 Europe PMC38
    2005 Pietilä, E. M., Tuusa, J. T., Apaja, P. M., Aatsinki, J. T., Hakalahti, A. E., Rajaniemi, H. J., & Petäjä-Repo, U. E. (2005). Inefficient maturation of the rat luteinizing hormone receptor: A putative way to regulate receptor numbers at the cell surface. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 280(28), 26622-26629.
    DOI Scopus67 WoS62 Europe PMC56
    2005 Apaja, P. M., Aatsinki, J. T., Rajaniemi, H. J., & Petäjä-Repo, U. E. (2005). Expression of the mature luteinizing hormone receptor in rodent urogenital and adrenal tissues is developmentally regulated at a posttranslational level. Endocrinology, 146(8), 3224-3232.
    DOI Scopus39 WoS31 Europe PMC24
    2004 Apaja, P. M., Harju, K. T., Aatsinki, J. T., Petäjä-Repo, U. E., & Rajaniemi, H. J. (2004). Identification and Structural Characterization of the Neuronal Luteinizing Hormone Receptor Associated with Sensory Systems. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 279(3), 1899-1906.
    DOI Scopus83 WoS61 Europe PMC52

  • Conference Papers
    Year Citation
    2014 Foo, B., Apaja, P., Okiyoneda, T., Barriere, H., Ficker, E., Lukacs, G., & Shrier, A. (2014). A peripheral protein quality control machinery involved in acquired and inherited LQT syndrome. In BIOCHEMISTRY AND CELL BIOLOGY-BIOCHIMIE ET BIOLOGIE CELLULAIRE Vol. 92 (pp. 581). CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING, NRC RESEARCH PRESS.
    2014 Avramescu, R. G., Perdomo, D., Phuan, P. W., Bagdany, M., Apaja, P. M., Borot, F., . . . Veit, G. (2014). Exposure to some gating potentiators, including VX-770, diminishes dF508-CFTR correction efficiency. In BIOCHEMISTRY AND CELL BIOLOGY-BIOCHIMIE ET BIOLOGIE CELLULAIRE Vol. 92 (pp. 580). CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING, NRC RESEARCH PRESS.
    2010 Lukacs, G. L., & Apaja, P. (2010). Membrane protein quality control in post-Golgi compartments. In BIOCHEMISTRY AND CELL BIOLOGY-BIOCHIMIE ET BIOLOGIE CELLULAIRE Vol. 88 (pp. 406). NATL RESEARCH COUNCIL CANADA-N R C RESEARCH PRESS.
    2009 Apaja, P., & Lukacs, G. L. (2009). Membrane protein quality control in post-Golgi compartments. In FASEB JOURNAL Vol. 23 (pp. 1 page). FEDERATION AMER SOC EXP BIOL.
    DOI

  • Conference Items
    Year Citation
    2015 Veit, G., Oliver, K. E., Apaja, P. M., Perdomo, D., Lin, S., Guo, J., . . . Lukacs, G. L. (2015). RIBOSOMAL STALK PROTEIN SILENCING CORRECTS THE ΔF508-CFTR FUNCTIONAL EXPRESSION DEFECT. Poster session presented at the meeting of PEDIATRIC PULMONOLOGY. WILEY-BLACKWELL.
    2014 Veit, G., Avramescu, R. G., Perdomo, D., Phuan, P., Bagdany, M., Apaja, P. M., . . . Lukacs, G. L. (2014). SOME GATING POTENTIATORS, INCLUDING VX-770, DIMINISH ΔF508-CFTR FUNCTIONAL EXPRESSION. Poster session presented at the meeting of PEDIATRIC PULMONOLOGY. WILEY-BLACKWELL.

  • Preprint
    Year Citation
    2025 Wang, B. B., & Apaja, P. M. (2025). ATG8 in Single Membranes: Fresh players of Endocytosis and Acidic Organelle Quality Control in Cancer, Neurodegeneration, and Inflammation.
    DOI
    2022 Rashidieh, B., Bain, A. L., Tria, S. M., Sharma, S., Stewart, C. A., Simmons, J. L., . . . Khanna, K. K. (2022). Alpha-B-Crystallin overexpression is sufficient to promote tumorigenesis and metastasis in mice.
    DOI
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