Dr. Nathalie Bérubé, PhD


Children’s Health Research Institute
Scientist, Molecular Genetics Program


University of Western Ontario
Assistant Professor, Departments of Biochemistry and Paediatrics

Contact Information
Tel: (519) 685-8500 Ext. 55066
Fax: (519) 685-8646
E-mail: nberube@uwo.ca
Web: http://www.biochem.uwo.ca/fac/berube/home.html

Brief Biography

Dr. Nathalie Bérubé completed her doctoral studies in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Ottawa in 1996.  She then trained at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston as a Doris and Curtis Hankamer Postdoctoral Fellow and subsequently at the Ottawa Health Research Institute (OHRI) as a CIHR Research Fellow.   Dr. Berube began her appointment as a CHRI scientist in August 2003.  Also in 2003, Dr. Berube accepted a probationary appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor to the Department of Paediatrics, with a cross appointment in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Western Ontario. 


Research Interests

• Epigenetics
• Brain development
• Mental retardation


Research Activities

The research in Dr. Berube’s laboratory centers on a gene called ATRX that is mutated in several forms of X-linked mental retardation syndromes.  X-linked means that the gene responsible for the mental retardation syndrome is found on the X chromosome.  The long-term goal of her research is to understand the function of the ATRX protein in the cell, particularly in brain cells.  She is particularly interested in understanding what the protein does in the brain and why it causes mental retardation in children when it is mutated.  She is using several systems to investigate how ATRX works in cells.  One is a mouse model where ATRX is absent in specific regions of the brain.  By studying the outcome of ATRX loss in the mouse brain, we can start to understand what it normally does.  She also uses cell culture systems and a new technology called RNA interference that allows her to selectively deplete cultured cells of ATRX protein, thus giving clues to its normal function.  Since ATRX is a protein that can change the structure of chromatin (DNA), she is using these different systems to understand the role of ATRX on chromatin structure and how it influences the expression of other genes.

 

Awards and Recognition

CIHR New Investigator Award - Awarded by Canadian Institute of Health Research

 

Discovery Grant - Awarded by Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada

 

Funding - Awarded by International Rett Syndrome Foundation

 

Internal Research Fund - Awarded by Children's Health Research Institute

 

Internal Research Fund - Awarded by Lawson Health Research Institute

 

Funding - Awarded by Curtis Cadman Foundation

 

Postdoctoral Fellowship in Epigenetics - Awarded by Children's Health Research Institute


Publications

  1. Bérubé,N.G. Healy J, Medina CF, Wu S, Hodgson T, Jagla M, Picketts DJ. (2008) Patient mutations alter ATRX targeting to PML nuclear bodies. Eur. J. Hum. Genet. 16: 192–201.
  2. Bérubé,N.G. Mangelsdorf, M., Jagla, M., Vanderluit, J., Garrick, D., Gibbons, R.J., Higgs, D.R., Slack, R.S., and Picketts, D.J. (2005) The chromatin-remodeling protein ATRX is critical for neuronal survival during corticogenesis.  J. Clin. Invest. 2005 115: 258-267.
  3. Bérubé, N.G., Jagla, M., Smeenk, C., DeRepentigny, Y., Kothary, R. and Picketts,
    D.J. (2002) Neurodevelopmental defects resulting from ATRX overexpression in transgenic mice. Hum. Mol. Genet. 11:253-61.
  4. Bérubé, N.G., Smeenk, C. and Picketts, D.J. (2000) Cell cycle-dependent phosphorylation of the ATRX protein correlates with changes in nuclear matrix and chromatin association. Hum.Mol.Genet. 9:539-547.