Molecular Biology Program

The John Petrini Lab

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Research

John Petrini, PhD
Chair, Molecular Biology Program, SKI; Director, The Functional Genomics Initiative

Work in our laboratory is focused on understanding the molecular transactions that govern chromosome stability and replication. The association of cancer predisposition and other pathology with mutations that affect chromosomal metabolism forms the basis of our interest in this process. In this regard, we focus on a conserved multiprotein complex that includes Mre11, Rad50, and Nbs1 in mammals or Xrs2 in the budding yeast S. cerevisiae. Our laboratory has isolated and characterized the human Mre11 complex, hMre11, hRad50, and Nbs1. We proved that an analogue of the S. cerevisiae Mre11 complex exists in human cells, and subsequently established definitive evidence that the yeast and human complexes mediate double-strand break repair in S. cerevisiae and mammalian cells, respectively. Our data suggest that in human cells, the complex acts as a sensor of DNA damage that participates in the activation of cell cycle checkpoints following g-irradiation.

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Go inside the lab of John Petrini from SKI’s Molecular Biology Program.
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The John Petrini Lab

Featured News

Feature
Molecular biologist John Petrini of the Sloan Kettering Institute.
Understanding the DNA-Damage “First Responders”: John Petrini at Work

Scientists know that cancer can result from mistakes in DNA repair. But understanding what controls the repair process itself has been a hard nut to crack.
Pictured: John H.J. Petrini, Molecular Biologist
At Work: Molecular Biologist John Petrini

In identifying proteins critical to DNA repair, molecular biologist John Petrini may expand knowledge of how unrepaired DNA damage can lead to cancer.
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Christina Leslie and John Petrini
Expanding the Impact of Precision Medicine to Fuel Discoveries

MSK’s Functional Genomics Initiative will enable basic scientists to take full advantage of the massive amount of data produced by tumor sequencing.

Publications

Hohl, M., Mojumar, A., Hailemariam, S. Kuryavi, V., Ghisays, F., Sorenson, K., Chang, M., Taylor, B.S., Patel, D., Burgers, P.M., Cobb, J.A., Petrini, J.H. (2020) Modeling Cancer Genomic Data in Yeast Reveals Selection Against ATM Function During Tumorigenesis. PLos Genet., 16 (3): e1008422

Wu, W., Bhowmick, R., Vogel, I., Ozer, O., Ghisays, F., Thakur, R.S., Sanchez De Leon, E., Richter, P.H., Ren, L., Petrini, J.H., Hickson, I.D., Liu, Y., (2020) RTEL1 Suppresses G-quadruplex-Associated R-Loops at Difficult-to-Replicate Loci in the Human Genome. Nat Struct Mol Biol. 27. 424-437

Kim, JH., Penson, A.V., Taylor, B.S., Petrini, J.H., (2019) Nbn-Mre11 interaction is required for tumor suppression and genomic integrity. 2019:201905305. doi: 10.1073/pnas. 1905305116. Proc Natl Acad Sci. PMC6660787

Kim, JH., Penson, A.V., Taylor, B.S., Petrini, J.H., (2019) Nbn-Mre11 interaction is required for tumor suppression and genomic integrity. 2019:201905305. doi: 10.1073/pnas. 1905305116. Proc Natl Acad Sci. PMC6660787

Park YB, Hohl, M., Padjasek, M., Jeong, E., Kyeong J.S., Kretzel, A., Petrini, J.H., Cho, Y., (2017) Eukaryotic Rad50 Functions as a Rod-shaped Dimer. Nat Struct Mol Biol (3) 248-257 PMC5625350

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People

Pictured: John Petrini

John Petrini, PhD

Chair, Molecular Biology Program, SKI; Director, The Functional Genomics Initiative

  • Molecular biologist John Petrini investigates the repair of chromosomal breaks and the activation of the DNA-damage-induced cell-cycle checkpoints.
  • PhD, University of Michigan Medical School
petrinij@mskcc.org
Email Address
212-639-2927
Office Phone
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Members

Pictured: John Petrini
John Petrini

Lab Head

Tarsha Barton
Tarsha Barton

Lead Administrative Assistant & Internal Competition Coordinator (FGI)

Marcel Hohl, Research Fellow
Marcel Hohl

Senior Research Scientist

Jun Hyun Kim

Senior Research Scientist

Claudia Canasto, Sr. Research Technician & Lab Manager
Claudia Canasto

Research Tech/Lab Manager

Esther Sanchez de Leon Ley
Esther Sanchez de Leon Ley

Graduate Student

Hexiao Wang
Hexiao Wang

Graduate Student

Chris Wardlaw, PhD
Chris Wardlaw

Research Associate

Lab Affiliations

Open Positions

To learn more about available postdoctoral opportunities, please visit our Career Center

Career Opportunity

The work in our lab is focused on the DNA damage response (DDR), a network of functions comprising DNA damage signaling, DNA repair, and DNA damage dependent cell cycle regulation. With an overarching interest in chromosome biology, the laboratory employs yeast and mice to undertake genetic, molecular biological, and biochemical analyses of these pathways with a goal of understanding the DDR’s role in tissue homeostasis, development, and tumor suppression. Experience in these research areas is preferred, as are candidates interested in multi-disciplinary approaches

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Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

John Petrini discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

  • Atropos Therapeutics, Inc.
    Ownership / Equity Interests
  • Novus BIologicals
    Provision of Services

The information published here is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2020 through disclosure submission in spring 2021). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at ecoi@mskcc.org.


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