Pirjo Apaja

Pirjo Apaja

School of Biological Sciences

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

A/Prof Apaja is a principal investigator of Organelle Proteostasis Diseases laboratory in Molecular and Biomedical Sciences.

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.

Our 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
    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 Scopus2 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 Scopus5 WoS2 Europe PMC5
    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 PMC6
    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 Scopus4 Europe PMC5
    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 Scopus53 WoS35 Europe PMC43
    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 Scopus53 WoS50 Europe PMC44
    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 Scopus24 WoS22 Europe PMC23
    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 Scopus18 WoS14 Europe PMC10
    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 Scopus43 Europe PMC40
    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 Scopus46 WoS39 Europe PMC39
    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 Scopus261 WoS239 Europe PMC173
    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 Scopus38 WoS30 Europe PMC28
    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 Scopus39 WoS31 Europe PMC34
    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 Scopus46 WoS42 Europe PMC35
    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 Scopus66 WoS61 Europe PMC56
    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 Scopus11 Europe PMC9
    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 Scopus50 WoS49 Europe PMC43
    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 Scopus18 WoS16 Europe PMC15
    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 PMC36
    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 Scopus66 WoS62 Europe PMC50
    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 PMC22
    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 Scopus81 WoS61 Europe PMC49

  • 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.
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