Daniela Rotin

Co-Director, SPARC Drug Discovery Centre

Dr. Daniela Rotin completed her PhD with Dr. Ian Tannock at the Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto, working on ion transport and metabolism in cancer, followed by two Postdoctoral Fellowships, first at The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, with Dr. Sergio Grinstein, working on ion transport, and second with Dr. Joseph Schlessinger in NYU Medical Center in NY, U.S., working on Signal Transduction.

She has been an Independent Investigator in the Cell Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, since 1992, where she is now a Senior Scientist, as well as a Professor of Biochemistry Department at University of Toronto. She is also the Co-Director of the SPARC-Drug Discovery Centre at The Hospital for Sick Children.

Research

The Rotin group has been studying the ubiquitin system, particularly the Nedd4 family of E3 ubiquitin ligases. They are studying the biochemistry, structure and function of these E3 ligases, as well as their physiological functions using cells, tissue organoids and model organisms.

They have developed proteomic methodologies to globally identify substrates for E3 ubiquitin ligases, and have subsequently focused their studies on some of the membrane proteins that were identified in these and related screens (e.g. the sodium channel ENaC, the FGF receptor 1, LAPTM proteins). These studies are relevant to human diseases such as hypertension, cystic fibrosis and cancer.

Experience

• 2017–Present: Co-Director – SPARC Drug Discovery Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 2003–Present: Professor – Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 1999–Present: Senior Scientist – Cell Biology Program, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 1998–Present: Professor – Department of Medicine (Cross-Appointed), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 1997–Present: Professor – Institute of Medical Sciences (Cross-Appointed), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 1992–Present: Professor – Department of Paediatrics (Cross-Appointed), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 1992–1999: Scientist – Cell Biology Program, Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada

Education

• 1990–1991: Postdoctoral Fellow – Department of Pharmacology, New York University Medical Center, New York, NY, U.S.
• 1988–1990: Postdoctoral Fellow – Cell Biology Program, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 1982–1988: PhD – Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, The Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Achievements

• 2011: Woman of Action (WOA) Scientist Award, Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF)
• 2011–2018: Canada Research Chair, Tier I, Canadian Foundation of Innovation
• 2004–2011: Canada Research Chair, Tier I, Canadian Foundation of Innovation
• 2003: Zeller’s Senior Scientist Award, Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
• 1999–2004: MRC Scientist Award (CIHR Investigator), Medical Research Council of Canada
• 1999–2002: Premier’s Research Excellence Award (PREA), Ontario Government
• 1994–1996: Power of Dreams Research Award, Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
• 1993: Elsie Winifred Crann Award, University of Toronto
• 1993–1999: MRC Scholarship (CIHR New Investigator), Medical Research Council of Canada
• 1988–1991: MRC Fellowship Award, Medical Research Council of Canada
• 1983–1987: NCIC Studentship Award, National Cancer Institute of Canada

1. Demian WL, Persaud A, Jiang C, Coyaud É, Liu S, Kapus A, Kafri R, Raught B, ROTIN D.  The Ion Transporter NKCC1 Links Cell Volume to Cell Mass Regulation by Suppressing mTORC1.  Cell Rep. 2019: 27 (6): 1886-96. PMID: 31067471.
2. Zhang W, Wu K-P, Sartori MA, Kamadurai HB, Ordureau A, Jiang C, Mercredi PY, Murchie R, Hu J, Persaud A, Mukherjee M, Li N, Doye A, Walker JR, Sheng Y, Hao Z, Li Y, Brown KR, Lemichez E, Chen J, Tong Y, Harper JW, Moffat J, ROTIN D*, Schulman BA*, Sidhu SS*.  System-wide modulation of HECT E3 ligases with selective ubiquitin variant probes.  Mol. Cell 2016: 62 (1): 121-36. PMID: 26949039. (*Co-Senior Authors)
3. Milkereit R, Persaud A, Vanoaica L, Guetg A, Verrey F, ROTIN D.  LAPTM4b recruits the LAT1-4F2hc Leu transporter to lysosomes and promotes mTORC1 activation.  Nat. Commun. 2015: 6: 7250: 1-9. PMID: 25998567.
4. Persaud A, Alberts P, Hayes M, Guettler S, Clarke I, Sicheri F, Dirks P, Ciruna B, ROTIN D.  Nedd4-1 binds and ubiquitylates activated FGFR1 to control its endocytosis and function.  EMBO J. (2011) 30: 3259-73.
5. Kimura T, Kawabe H, Jiang C, Zhang W, Xiang YY, Lu C, Salter MW, Brose N, Lu WY, ROTIN D.  Deletion of the ubiquitin ligase Nedd4L in lung epithelia causes cystic fibrosis-like disease.  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2011: 108 (8): 3216-21. PMID: 21300902.

See a full list of Daniela Rotin's publications 

Funding

• 2018–2025: Canadian Institute of Health Research – Foundation grant
  Ubiquitin mediated regulation of membrane proteins
• 2018–2021: Cystic Fibrosis Canada (CFC) – Discovery Research Grant
  Use of lung organoids from CF patients to analyze response to ENaC inhibitors
• 2017–2022: Canadian Foundation of Innovation (CFI) – Innovation Fund
  3D-ORG: 3D screening infrastructure for tissue ORGanoids and model ORGanisms
• 2017–2023: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) – Operating Grant
  Role of the ubiquitin system in Drosophila muscle synaptogenesis and function