Molecular and Functional Genetics
 

Annakaisa Haapasalo
PhD, Docent,  Academy Research Fellow

University of Eastern Finland
Institute of Clinical Medicine / Neurology
P.O.Box 1627 (Yliopistonranta 1C)
FI-70211 Kuopio
Finland

+358-(0)40-355 2768
+358-(0)40-355 2694 (lab)
annakaisa.haapasalo( at )uef.fi

 

Major Research Interests 

  • Molecular and cell biological characterization of pathways and genes related to Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis.

Research Methods

  • Molecular biological, biochemical, and cell biological methods (cell culture and transfection of primary and secondary cells, protein expression analyses, enzyme activity measurements, subcellular fractionation, quantitative PCR, fluorescence and confocal microscopy).

Academic Degrees

  • MSc (biotechnology) Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Kuopio, 1996
  • PhD (neurobiology/biotechnology) Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Kuopio, 2003
  • Docent (Adjunct Professor) in Neurobiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, 2011

Major Positions and Appointments

  • Academy Research Fellow, 2009-
  • Research Specialist (Research Fellow), Department of Neurology, University of Kuopio, 2006-2009
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Neurobiology of Disease Laboratory, Genetics and Aging Research Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA, 2004-2006
  • PhD student, Department of Neurobiology, A.I.Virtanen Institute, University of Kuopio, 1996-2003

Other Research Training 

  • Neurobiology course in molecular biology, electrophysiology, microscopy and imaging at Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), Woods Hole, MA, USA, Jun 13 - Aug 14, 1999

Selected Publications 

Sarajärvi T, Tuusa JT, Haapasalo A, Lackman JJ, Sormunen R, Helisalmi S, Roehr JT, Parrado AR, Mäkinen P, Bertram L, Soininen H, Tanzi RE, Petäjä-Repo UE, Hiltunen M. Cysteine 27 variant of the δ-opioid receptor affects amyloid precursor protein processing through altered endocytic trafficking. Molecular and Cellular Biology. 2011 Jun;31(11):2326-40.

Viswanathan J*, Haapasalo A*, Böttcher C, Miettinen R, Kurkinen KMA, Lu A, Thomas A, Maynard CJ, Romano D, Hyman BT, Berezovska O, Bertram L, Soininen H, Dantuma NP, Tanzi RE, Hiltunen M. Alzheimer's disease-associated ubiquilin-1 regulates presenilin-1 accumulation and aggresome formation. Traffic. 2011 Mar;12(3):330-348. *Equal contribution

Haapasalo A and Kovacs DM. The many substrates of presenilin/γ-secretase. Review. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 2011, Jan;25(1):3-28.

Haapasalo A, Viswanathan J, Soininen H, Tanzi RE, Hiltunen M. Emerging role of Alzheimer's disease-associated ubiquilin-1 in protein aggregation. Review. Biochemical Society Transactions, 2010, Feb;38(Pt 1):150-5.

Sarajärvi T, Haapasalo A, Viswanathan J, Mäkinen P, Laitinen M, Soininen H, Hiltunen M. Down-regulation of seladin-1 increases BACE1 levels and activity through enhanced GGA3 depletion during apoptosis. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2009, 284(49):34433-43.

Haapasalo A, Kim DY, Carey BW, Turunen MK, Pettingell WH, Kovacs DM. Presenilin/γ-secretase-mediated cleavage regulates association of LAR receptor tyrosine phosphatase with ß-catenin. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2007, 282(12):9063-9072.

Zhang M*, Haapasalo A*, Kim DY, MacKenzie Ingano LA, Pettingell WH, Kovacs DM.  Presenilin/γ-secretase activity regulates protein clearance from the endocytic recycling compartment. FASEB J, 2006, 20:1176-1178. *Equal contribution.