Dr. Marc Coppolino

I was born and raised in Waterloo and received my B.Sc. (Co-op, 1990) from the Department of Biology at the University of Waterloo. After graduating, I continued my laboratory training and became interested in biochemical research while working as a junior technician in the Department of Pharmacology at Merck Frosst Canada in Montreal.

I completed my Ph.D. (1998) under the supervision of Dr. Shoukat Dedhar in the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto. My doctoral work involved the analysis of protein-protein interactions that regulate cell adhesion during the progression of some types of cancers.

Prior to joining the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Guelph, I finished a 3-year MRC Fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Sergio Grinstein at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto. During the course of this fellowship, I studied mammalian host-pathogen interactions, focusing on those involving Salmonella typhimurium. While at the Hospital for Sick Children, I was awarded the 2000 John Charles Polanyi Award for Physiology and Medicine.

My research is currently supported by NSERC.

• B.Sc. University of Waterloo
• Ph.D. University of Toronto

Cell adhesion and migration are fundamentally important to the existence of multicellular organisms. This is obvious in light of the numerous diseases that can afflict humans when these processes are impaired. Disruption of normal cellular adhesive and migratory activities can lead to developmental disorders and contribute to the progression of arthritis, immunological deficiencies and cancer. Both cell adhesion and migration are complex processes involving numerous biochemical signalling events, reorganization of the cellular cytoskeleton and localized remodelling of the plasma membrane. It is the goal of my laboratory to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that link these activities, allowing them to be coordinated during changes in cell adhesion and motility.

• Brasher, M.I.; Chafe, S.C.; McDonald, P.C.; Nemirovsky, O.; Gorshtein, G.; Gerbec, Z.J.; Brown, W.S.; Grafinger, O.R.; Marchment, M.; Matus, E.; Dedhar, S.; Coppolino, M. (2022) Syntaxin4-Munc18c interaction promotes breast tumour invasion and metastasis by regulating MT1-MMP trafficking. Molecular Cancer Research; 20(434-445)
• Grafinger, O; Gorshtein, G; Stirling, T; Geddes-McAlister, J; Coppolino, M. (2021). Inhibition of β1 integrin induces its association with MT1-MMP and decreases MT1-MMP internalization and cellular invasiveness. Cellular Signalling; 83: 109984
• Grafinger O.R., Gorshtein G., Stirling T., Brasher M.I., Coppolino M.G. (2020) B1 integrin-mediated signaling regulates MT1-MMP phosphorylation to promote tumor cell invasion. Journal of Cell Science 133(9):jcs239152. doi: 10.1242/jcs.239152
• Brasher MI, Martynowicz DM, Grafinger OR, Hucik A, Shanks-Skinner E, Uniacke J, Coppolino MG. (2017) Interaction of Munc18c and syntaxin4 facilitates invadopodium formation and extracellular matrix invasion of tumor cells. J. Biol. Chem.; 292(39):16199-16210
• Williams KC, McNeilly RE, M.G. Coppolino. (2014) SNAP23, Syntaxin4, and Vesicle-associated Membrane Protein 7 (VAMP7) Mediate Trafficking of Membrane Type 1-Matrix Metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) During Invadopodium Formation and Tumor Cell Invasion. Molecular Biology of the Cell; 25: 2061-2070.
• Williams K.C. and M.G. Coppolino. (2014) SNARE-dependent interaction of Src, EGFR and β1 integrin regulates invadopodia formation and tumor cell invasion. Journal of Cell Science; 127(Pt 8): 1712-25.

• Evan Perehiniak (Ph.D.)