Didier Trono

Didier Trono (born 1956) was a Swiss virologist and a professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).[1] He was known for his research on virus-host interactions and the development of lentiviral vectors for gene therapy.

Professor

Didier Trono
Didier Trono in 2004
Born1956 (age 66–67)
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Geneva
Academic work
DisciplineVirology
Sub-disciplineEpigenetics
InstitutionsÉcole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
Main interestsZinc finger proteins, KRAB proteins, Transposons,
Websitehttps://www.epfl.ch/labs/tronolab/

Career

Trono obtained an M.D. from the University of Geneva in 1982 and completed a clinical training in internal medicine, pathology and infectious diseases in Geneva and at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. Trono started his scientific career in 1986 when he joined David Baltimore's laboratory at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research as a postdoctoral researcher, where he studied the molecular mechanisms linked to poliovirus and HIV pathogenesis.[2][3] In 1990, he was appointed assistant professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, where he founded a center for AIDS research.[4] There, he notably contributed to the understanding of why HIV specifically infects human T helper cells,[5] and developed a new class of gene therapy vectors based on HIV capable of infecting non-dividing cells that have since then been widely used in clinical and research settings.[6][7][8] In 1997, he was appointed full professor at the University of Geneva, where he was named head of the Department of Genetics and Microbiology in 2000. In 2004, he was appointed full professor at EPFL, where he was dean of the School of Life Sciences until 2012.[9] He also served on the Life Sciences jury for the Infosys Prize in 2010.

In 2016, Trono cofounded the Health 2030 initiative, a Swiss multicentric and multidisciplinary program which aims at promoting the development and exploitation of new technologies in the field of health and personalized medicine.[10][11]

Research

Trono heads the Laboratory of Virology and Genetics at EPFL.[12] Despite a longstanding interests in the biology of viruses and viral infections, research in Trono's lab at EPFL has shifted towards the study of mobile genetic elements called transposons and their role in the regulation of mammalian gene expression. Trono and colleagues have notably taken interest in the 'KRAB'n'KAP' system, a complex interaction network of some 400 KRAB-containing zinc finger proteins and their cofactor KAP1, which is notably involved in the epigenetic regulation of retroelements and which regulates critical gene expression programs during embryonic development.[13][14]

Distinctions

In 2002, Trono was awarded the Leenaards Scientific Prize for his contributions to the understanding of the genetic factors of vulnerability towards HIV infections.[15]

Trono was elected as an EMBO member in 2009.[16][17]

Trono was awarded with two Advanced Grants from the European Research Council in 2010 and 2015 for projects on mammalian gene regulation by KRAB proteins and transposable elements. He also received a Proof of Concept grant in 2016 for the development of a novel diagnostic method based on the analysis of transposable elements.[18]

References
  1. "Didier Trono at EPFL". epfl.ch. Archived from the original on 2020-05-23.
  2. Trono, D.; Pelletier, J.; Sonenberg, N.; Baltimore, D. (1988-07-22). "Translation in mammalian cells of a gene linked to the poliovirus 5' noncoding region". Science. 241 (4864): 445–448. Bibcode:1988Sci...241..445T. doi:10.1126/science.2839901. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 2839901.
  3. Trono, Didier; Feinberg, Mark B.; Baltimore, David (1989-10-06). "HIV-1 Gag mutants can dominantly interfere with the replication of the wild-type virus". Cell. 59 (1): 113–120. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(89)90874-X. ISSN 0092-8674. PMID 2676192. S2CID 21457816.
  4. Studies, Salk Institute for Biological (2008). The Salk Institute Newsletter no. 39.
  5. Aiken, Christopher; Konner, Jason; Landau, Nathaniel R.; Lenburg, Marc E.; Trono, Didier (1994-03-11). "Nef induces CD4 endocytosis: Requirement for a critical dileucine motif in the membrane-proximal CD4 cytoplasmic domain". Cell. 76 (5): 853–864. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(94)90360-3. ISSN 0092-8674. PMID 8124721. S2CID 737991.
  6. Chicurel, Marina (2000-12-08). "Capitalizing on HIV's Talents for Gene Therapy". Science. 290 (5498): 1878. doi:10.1126/science.290.5498.1878. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 11187041. S2CID 82834652.
  7. Naldini, Luigi; Blömer, Ulrike; Gallay, Philippe; Ory, Daniel; Mulligan, Richard; Gage, Fred H.; Verma, Inder M.; Trono, Didier (1996-04-12). "In Vivo Gene Delivery and Stable Transduction of Nondividing Cells by a Lentiviral Vector". Science. 272 (5259): 263–267. Bibcode:1996Sci...272..263N. doi:10.1126/science.272.5259.263. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 8602510. S2CID 18997464.
  8. Naldini, Luigi; Trono, Didier; Verma, Inder M. (2016-09-09). "Lentiviral vectors, two decades later". Science. 353 (6304): 1101–1102. Bibcode:2016Sci...353.1101N. doi:10.1126/science.aah6192. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 27609877. S2CID 34651008.
  9. "Singapore Chapter: Dinner with Prof. Didier Trono from EPFL". EPFL Alumni. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  10. Goubet, Fabien (16 June 2016). "La convergence des progrès technologiques va aboutir à une médecine numérique et connectée". L'Hebdo. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  11. "Health 2030". Health 2030 (in French). Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  12. "Trono Lab – Laboratory of Virology and Genetics". www.epfl.ch. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  13. Rowe, Helen M.; Jakobsson, Johan; Mesnard, Daniel; Rougemont, Jacques; Reynard, Séverine; Aktas, Tugce; Maillard, Pierre V.; Layard-Liesching, Hillary; Verp, Sonia; Marquis, Julien; Spitz, François (January 2010). "KAP1 controls endogenous retroviruses in embryonic stem cells". Nature. 463 (7278): 237–240. Bibcode:2010Natur.463..237R. doi:10.1038/nature08674. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 20075919. S2CID 4323449.
  14. Imbeault, Michaël; Helleboid, Pierre-Yves; Trono, Didier (March 2017). "KRAB zinc-finger proteins contribute to the evolution of gene regulatory networks". Nature. 543 (7646): 550–554. Bibcode:2017Natur.543..550I. doi:10.1038/nature21683. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 28273063. S2CID 4466060.
  15. "Identifier les gènes influençant le SIDA". Fondation Leenaards - Favoriser la dynamique créatrice (in French). Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  16. "Find people in the EMBO Communities". people.embo.org. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  17. "Françoise Gisou Van der Goot, Didier Trono et Yann Barrandon élus mem" (in French). 2009-10-19. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  18. "ERC FUNDED PROJECTS". ERC: European Research Council. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
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