CV Pierre Roger

Name: ROGER
First name: Pierre P.
Date of birth: May 9, 1958
Nationality: Belgian

Education:
Master in Chemical Sciences ULB 1980
PhD (Biochemistry) ULB 1984

Professional positions:
Senior Research Associate of the National Fund for Scientific Research (Belgium)

Research interest:
I have pioneered the study of thyroid cell proliferation and differentiation by defining model systems of primary cultures in serum-free medium, and have obtained the first in vitro demonstrations of the distinct cascades of mitogenic signal transduction by TSH/cAMP and growth factors/ras/MAPK. The cAMP pathway promotes both proliferation and differentiation in thyrocytes and is causatively involved in goitrogenesis, tumor promotion and generation of hyperfunctional adenomas. The positive regulation of thyroid cell cycle by cAMP is unique as it targets the assembly and activation of complexes of pre-existing cyclin D and CDK4 without involving most intermediaries of known mitogenic signaling cascades. Using two-dimensional electrophoresis to separate the phosphorylated forms of these proteins within their various complexes, we identified the activating phosphorylation of CDK4 as a direct crucial target for cell cycle regulation in various cell systems. Using various molecular, cellular, proteomic and bioinformatic approaches, we are currently (i) exploring the mechanisms of this critical CDK4 regulation that determines the inactivation of the central oncosuppressor protein pRb and the cell cycle decision in normal and cancerous cells; (ii) developing novel tools to predict whether cancer patients will benefit or not of treatments with the new CDK4 inhibitory drugs that are now approved for treatment of advanced ER+ breast cancers.

Main publications:
– Mitogenic effects of thyrotropin and cyclic AMP in differentiated human thyroid cells in vitro. Roger, P.P., Taton, M., Van Sande, J., Dumont, J.E. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 66, 1158-1165 (1988).
– A requirement for cyclin D3-CDK4 assembly in the cAMP-dependent proliferation of thyrocytes. F. Depoortere, A. Van Keymeulen, J. Lukas, S. Costagliola, J. Bartkova, J.E. Dumont, J. Bartek, P.P. Roger (corresponding author), S. Dremier J. Cell Biol. 140 (1998),1427-1439.
– Regulation of thyroid cell proliferation by TSH and other factors : a critical evaluation of in vitro models. Kimura, T., Van Keymeulen, A., Golstein, J., Fusco, A., Dumont, J.E., Roger, P.P.
Endocrine Rev. 22, 631-656 (2001).
– CDK4 T172-phosphorylation is central in a CDK7-dependent bidirectional CDK4/CDK2 interplay mediated by p21 phosphorylation at the restriction point. Bisteau, X., Paternot, S., Colleoni, B., Coulonval, K., Ecker, K., De Groote, P., Declercq, W., Hengst, L., Roger, P.P. PLoS Genetics, 9(5) e1003546 (2013).
РCDK4 phosphorylation status and corresponding gene expression profile predict sensitivity to Palbociclib. Rasp̩, E, Coulonval, K, Pita, J.M., Paternot, S., Roth̩, F., Twyffels, L., Broh̩e, S., Craciun, L., Larsimont, D., Kruys, V., Sandras, F., Salmon, I., Van Laere, S., Piccart, M., Ignatiadis,, M., Sotiriou, C., Roger. P.P. EMBO Mol. Med. 9(8):1052-1066 (2017).