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Natalya N. Pavlova

Natalya N. Pavlova, PhD

Languages spoken: English, Russian

Academic Information

Departments Primary - Oncological Sciences

Research Interests

  • Cell Metabolism
  • tRNA
  • Translation
  • Tumor Microenvironment
  • Nutrient Sensing

Natasha (Natalya) Pavlova received her BS degree from the University of Virginia and a PhD from Harvard Medical School. At Harvard, she did thesis research in Dr. Stephen Elledge's lab, where she performed high-throughput gain-of-function genetic screens to identify novel genetic drivers of cell transformation in human mammary epithelial cells. For her postdoctoral training, Natasha joined Dr. Craig Thompson's lab at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In Dr. Thompson’s lab, Natasha investigated how amino acid depletion reconfigures tRNA aminoacylation, protein synthesis and cell behavior. Natasha became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Oncological Sciences and a Huntsman Cancer Institute Investigator in October of 2022.

Research Statement

Glutamine is a versatile building block that cells use to produce a variety of biomolecules, including proteins, nucleotides, other non-essential amino acids, glucosamine-6-phosphate, and TCA cycle intermediates. Being a high-demand nutrient for proliferating cells, glutamine becomes depleted in solid tumors. Our research goals are to decipher the rules that govern the capacity of various cell types for glutamine production, investigate a novel glutamine-sensing mechanism that allows the cells to transmit the information about glutamine availability to its transcription factors, as well as develop new tools to visualize and track depletion of glutamine (and other amino acids) in tumors. You can read more about our work at pavlovalab.org.

Education History

Postdoctoral Training Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Postdoctoral Training
Doctoral Training Harvard Medical School
PhD
Undergraduate University of Virginia
BS

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Pavlova NN and Thompson CB (2024). Oncogenic Control of Cancer Metabolism. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine, 14(10).
  2. Ranea-Robles P, Pavlova NN, Bender A, Pereyra AS, Ellis JM, Stauffer B, Yu C, Thompson CB, Argmann C, Puchowicz M, Houten SM (2022). A mitochondrial long-chain fatty acid oxidation defect leads to tRNA uncharging and activation of the integrated stress response in the mouse heart. Cardiovasc Res. (Read full article)
  3. Schwrer S, Pavlova NN, Cimino FV, King B, Cai X, Sizemore GM, Thompson CB (2021). Fibroblast pyruvate carboxylase is required for collagen production in the tumour microenvironment. Nat Metab, 3(11), 1484-1499. (Read full article)
  4. Pavlova NN, King B, Josselsohn RH, Violante S, Macera VL, Vardhana SA, Cross JR, Thompson CB (2020). Translation in amino-acid-poor environments is limited by tRNAGln charging. Elife, 9. (Read full article)
  5. Jiang J, Srivastava S, Seim G, Pavlova NN, King B, Zou L, Zhang C, Zhong M, Feng H, Kapur R, Wek RC, Fan J, Zhang J (2019). Promoter demethylation of the asparagine synthetase gene is required for ATF4-dependent adaptation to asparagine depletion. J Biol Chem, 294(49), 18674-18684. (Read full article)
  6. Jiang J, Pavlova NN, Zhang J (2018). Asparagine, a critical limiting metabolite during glutamine starvation. Mol Cell Oncol, 5(3), e1441633. (Read full article)
  7. Palm W, Park Y, Wright K, Pavlova NN, Tuveson DA, Thompson CB (2015). The Utilization of Extracellular Proteins as Nutrients Is Suppressed by mTORC1. Cell, 162(2), 259-270. (Read full article)
  8. Pavlova NN, Pallasch C, Elia AE, Braun CJ, Westbrook TF, Hemann M, Elledge SJ (2013). A role for PVRL4-driven cell-cell interactions in tumorigenesis. Elife, 2, e00358. (Read full article)
  9. Zhu J, Larman HB, Gao G, Somwar R, Zhang Z, Laserson U, Ciccia A, Pavlova N, Church G, Zhang W, Kesari S, Elledge SJ (2013). Protein interaction discovery using parallel analysis of translated ORFs (PLATO). Nat Biotechnol, 31(4), 331-334. (Read full article)
  10. Solimini NL, Liang AC, Xu C, Pavlova NN, Xu Q, Davoli T, Li MZ, Wong KK, Elledge SJ (2013). STOP gene Phactr4 is a tumor suppressor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 110(5), E407-14. (Read full article)
  11. Larman HB, Xu GJ, Pavlova NN, Elledge SJ (2012). Construction of a rationally designed antibody platform for sequencing-assisted selection. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 109(45), 18523-8. (Read full article)
  12. Sun T, Aceto N, Meerbrey KL, Kessler JD, Zhou C, Migliaccio I, Nguyen DX, Pavlova NN, Botero M, Huang J, Bernardi RJ, Schmitt E, Hu G, Li MZ, Dephoure N, Gygi SP, Rao M, Creighton CJ, Hilsenbeck SG, Shaw CA, Muzny D, Gibbs RA, Wheeler DA, Osborne CK, Schiff R, Bentires-Alj M, Elledge SJ, Westbrook TF (2010). Activation of multiple proto-oncogenic tyrosine kinases in breast cancer via loss of the PTPN12 phosphatase. Cell, 144(5), 703-18. (Read full article)
  13. Mulligan P, Westbrook TF, Ottinger M, Pavlova N, Chang B, Macia E, Shi YJ, Barretina J, Liu J, Howley PM, Elledge SJ, Shi Y (2008). CDYL bridges REST and histone methyltransferases for gene repression and suppression of cellular transformation. Mol Cell, 32(5), 718-26. (Read full article)
  14. Westbrook TF, Hu G, Ang XL, Mulligan P, Pavlova NN, Liang A, Leng Y, Maehr R, Shi Y, Harper JW, Elledge SJ (2007). SCFbeta-TRCP controls oncogenic transformation and neural differentiation through REST degradation. Nature, 452(7185), 370-4. (Read full article)
  15. Cinar B, Fang PK, Lutchman M, Di Vizio D, Adam RM, Pavlova N, Rubin MA, Yelick PC, Freeman MR (2007). The pro-apoptotic kinase Mst1 and its caspase cleavage products are direct inhibitors of Akt1. EMBO J, 26(21), 4523-34. (Read full article)

Review

  1. Pavlova NN, Zhu J, Thompson CB (2022). The hallmarks of cancer metabolism: Still emerging. [Review]. Cell Metab, 34(3), 355-377. (Read full article)
  2. Zhang J, Pavlova NN, Thompson CB (2017). Cancer cell metabolism: the essential role of the nonessential amino acid, glutamine. [Review]. EMBO J, 36(10), 1302-1315. (Read full article)
  3. Pavlova NN, Thompson CB (2016). The Emerging Hallmarks of Cancer Metabolism. [Review]. Cell Metab, 23(1), 27-47. (Read full article)

Book Chapter

  1. Pavlova NN, Thompson CB (2017). Cancer Metabolism. In Bast RC, Croce CM, Hait WN, Hong WK, Kufe DW, Piccart-Gebhart M, Pollock RE, Weichselbaum RR, Wang H, Holland JF (Eds.), Holland-Frei Cancer Medicine 9 (9th Edition). Wiley-Blackwell.