dr. Dorien Clarisse (PhD)

CRIG member
Dorien Clarisse

Postdoctoral Scientist - Translational Nuclear Receptor Research (TNRR) lab - VIB Center for Medical Biotechnology - UGent Department of Biomolecular Medicine (Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UGent)
Principal investigator: prof. Karolien De Bosscher (PhD)

 

Research focus

Glucocorticoids are essential drugs in the treatment cocktails of lymphoid malignancies because they trigger apoptosis of the malignant cells by binding to the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), a nuclear receptor. Unfortunately, prolonged glucocorticoid treatment is severely hampered by two major problems: 

  • detrimental glucocorticoid-associated side effects, which hamper patient quality of life and negatively impact treatment adherence, and 

  • the emergence of glucocorticoid resistance, which is a gradual process that is inevitable in many patients. 

Despite these problems, GR will remain a crucial drug target in lymphoid malignancies because of its efficaceous action and the low cost of its ligands. Therefore, our team is focussing on identifying novel GR-based strategies that uphold therapeutic effects and dampen side effects. In this context, we are exploring GR-based nuclear receptor crosstalk as a way towards therapeutic innovation with more precise acting nuclear receptor ligands.  Complementary to this, we are studying the mechanisms that govern glucocorticoid responsiveness in lymphoid malignancies, which is required to find strategies that could postpone or overcome glucocorticoid resistance altogether. 
 

Biography

After obtaining two Master’s degrees, one in Chemistry and one in Biochemistry and Biotechnology, I started my PhD training on a VLK project in 2012 and was awarded an IWT scholarship the following year. I successfully defended my PhD in December 2018 and I am currently working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Translational Nuclear Receptor Research (TNRR) lab of prof. Karolien De Bosscher.
My focus is exploring nuclear receptor crosstalk mechanisms as a route towards selective therapeutics with reduced side effects as well as the timelier identification of glucocorticoid resistance in patients with lymphoid malignancies.   
 

Key publications

  • ‘Glucocorticoid receptor signaling: intricacies and therapeutic opportunities’, Trends in Biochemical Sciences, 2024 (PMID: 38429217)
  • 'Crosstalk between glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors boosts glucocorticoid-induced killing of multiple myeloma cells’, Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, 2023 (PMID: 37578563)
  • ‘Approaches towards tissue-selective pharmacology of the mineralocorticoid receptor’, British Journal of Pharmacology, 2022 (PMID: 34698367)
  • ‘How the glucocorticoid receptor contributes to platinum-based therapy resistance in solid cancer’, Nature Communications, 2021 (PMID: 34400619)
  • 'Latest perspectives on glucocorticoid-induced apoptosis and resistance in lymphoid malignancies' BBA - Reviews on Cancer, 2020 (PMID: 32950642)
  • 'Nuclear receptor crosstalk - defining the mechanisms for therapeutic innovation' Nature Reviews Endocrinology, 2020 (PMID: 32303708)
  • 'Coregulator profiling of the glucocorticoid receptor in lymphoid malignancies' Oncotarget, 2017 (PMID: 29312638).
     

Contact & links