Lars-Gunnar Larsson

Lars-Gunnar Larsson

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About me

  • I received a BSc in Biology from Uppsala University in 1982 and PhD in Tumor Biology at Dept. of Pathology, Uppsala University 1989. Title of thesis: “On the role of proto-oncogenes in the differentiation of human hematopoietic tumor cells in vitro". After that, I was a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute for Molecular Biology, Hannover Medical School, Germany, in the lab of Dr. Bernhard Lüscher, 1991-1994. I returned to Sweden and was awarded a position from the Swedish Cancer Foundation (Cancerfonden) as Assistant Professor 1994 at Uppsala University, and then Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor at the Genetic Center, Swedish University for Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, where I became Professor of Molecular Genetics 2001. In 2007 I was recruited to Karolinska Institutet, Dept of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology as Senior Researcher, where I became professor of Tumor Biology 2011.

Research

  • Our research focuses on the function, regulation and targeting of the MYC oncoprotein. The MYC oncogene family encodes transcription factors that regulate a vast number of genes involved in cell growth, apoptosis, metabolism, differentiation, senescence, stemness and other cellular functions. Deregulated expression of MYC contributes to the development of over half of all human cancers, and often correlates with advanced stages of disease, resistance to therapy and poor prognosis. Our research addresses questions on how MYC cooperates and interacts with other factors to regulate gene transcription and how this affects biological processes of relevance for tumor development. We are also interested in how MYC’s function, activity and stability is regulated through interaction with such factors. Finally, we are utilizing these insights into strategies to target MYC directly or indirectly in tumor cells. For these purposes we are utilizes a toolbox of different methodologies and tumor systems based on cell culture and mouse models.

Selected publications

Articles

All other publications

Employments

  • Assistant Professor, Uppsala University, 1994-
  • Affiliated to Research, Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institutet, 2023-2024
  • Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor, The Genetic Center, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 1991-1994

Degrees and Education

  • Professor, Molecular Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 2001
  • PhD, Tumor Biology, On the role of proto-oncogenes in the differentiation of human hematopoietic tumor cells in vitro, Uppsala University, 1989
  • BSc, Biology, Uppsala University, 1982

Visiting research fellowships

  • Post-doctoral fellow, Hannover Medical School, 1991-1994

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