Dr. Christian Rocheleau

Academic title(s): 

Associate Professor - Department of Medicine, Division of Experimental Medicine
Associate Member - Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
Scientist - Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre

Dr. Christian Rocheleau
Contact Information
Address: 

McGill University Health Centre (MUHC)
1001 Decarie Boulevard,
Montreal, Qc, H4A 3J1

Phone: 
(514) 934-1934 ext. 76207
Email address: 
christian.rocheleau [at] mcgill.ca
Current research: 

Our laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms of endocrinology using the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. Hormones and Growth Factors act as signals from one cell to another to control various cellular behaviors such as proliferation, differentiation, and migration. These signals can activate receptors on the cell surface to initiate a cascade of molecular events that transduce the signal to the cell interior to elicit a cellular response. The Ras/MAPK pathway can transduce signals from a variety of receptors to control numerous cellular responses and inappropriate activation of this pathway can lead to cancer. Vesicular trafficking plays an important role in endocrine signaling, in both the secretion of hormone signals and in the regulation of downstream signaling events. Our research focuses on understanding the mechanisms that regulate vesicular trafficking and signal transduction as well as understanding how these two processes intersect. These fundamental cellular processes are evolutionarily conserved between humans and the nematode C. elegans. Therefore, we can apply the rapid forward and reverse genetic approaches available in C. elegans to identify and characterize new regulators relevant to the development of therapeutics to treat human cancers and endocrine diseases caused by unregulated signaling and/or vesicular trafficking.

Selected publications: 
  1. Skorobogata O, Meng J, Gauthier K and Rocheleau CE (2016). Dynein-mediated trafficking negatively regulates LET-23 EGFR signaling. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 27, 3771-3779.
  2. Skorobogata O, Escobar-Restrepo JM and Rocheleau CE (2014) An AGEF-1/Arf GTPase/AP-1 ensemble antagonizes LET-23 EGFR basolateral localization and signaling during C. elegans vulva induction. PLoS Genetics,10, e1004728.
  3. Skorobogata O and Rocheleau CE (2012). RAB-7 antagonizes LET-23 EGFR signaling during vulva development in Caenorhabditis elegans. PLoS ONE, 7, e36489.during L1 diapause in Caenorhabditis elegans. PLoS ONE, 5, e15662.
  4. Chotard L, Mishra AK, Sylvain MA, Tuck S, Lambright DG and Rocheleau CE (2010) TBC-2 regulates RAB-5/RAB-7-mediated endosomal trafficking in C. elegans. Molecular Biology of the Cell, 21, 2285-2296
  5. Law F, Seo JH, Wang Z, DeLeon JL, Bolis Y, Brown A, Zong WX, Du G and Rocheleau CE (2017). The VPS-34 PI3 kinase negatively regulates RAB-5 during endosome maturation. J Cell Sci, 130, 2007-2017.

PubMed Listing

Research areas: 
Endocrinology/ Diabetes
Fundamental Research
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