Academic Rank:
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
Affiliation(s):
BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute
Location:
BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute
Short Bio
My research is aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms governing cell adhesion and motility, in particular those involving white blood cell function in normal as well as in pathologic outcomes.
Circulating white blood cells represent the immune system’s front-line defense against infection. The successful and accurate targeting of white blood cells to inflamed tissues is facilitated by cell adhesion receptor proteins expressed on the surface of these cells. However, aberrant function of these receptor proteins and the cellular signals that regulate them can lead to diseases of the immune system, including leukemia, lymphoma and autoimmunity.
My laboratory is focused on understanding the differences in cellular signalling between healthy and diseased cells in order to explore and evaluate novel signalling targets for therapeutic intervention in blood diseases. We employ a multi-disciplinary approach that encompasses cell biology, protein biochemistry, molecular biology and immunology.
Academic Backgrounds
Awards & Recognition
- The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada (LLSC) OG (2010-2012)
- CFI/BCKDF – Leaders Opportunity Fund (2010)
- The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (U.S.A.) – Fellow, Career Development Program (2004–07)
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) – PhD Studentship (1997-2002)
Selected Publications
- Weisser SB, Kozicky LK, Brugger HK, Ngoh EN, Cheung B, Jen R, Menzies SC, Samarakoon A, Murray PJ, Lim CJ, Johnson P, Boucher JL, van Rooijen N, amd Sly LM. 2014. Arginase activity in alternatively activated macrophages protects PI3Kp110delta deficient mice from dextran sodium sulfate induced intestinal inflammation. Eur J Immunol 44(11):3353-67. DOI: 10.1002/eji.201343981. PMID: 25124254
- Khademolhosseini F, Liu CC, Lim CJ and Chiao M. 2015. Application of periodic loads on cells from magnetic micropillar arrays impedes cellular migration. Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS), 2015 28th IEEE International Conference on , vol., no., pp.624,627, 18-22 Jan. 2015. DOI: 10.1109/MEMSYS.2015.7051033
- Leclair P, Lim CJ. CD47-Independent Effects Mediated by the TSP-Derived 4N1K Peptide*. PLoS ONE (2014) 9(5): e98358. PMID:24848268 *F1000 Recommended
- Chen H, Mohan P, Jiang J, Nemirovsky O, He D, Fleisch MC, Niederacher D, Pilarski LM, Lim CJ, Maxwell CA. Spatial regulation of Aurora A activity during mitotic spindle assembly requires RHAMM to correctly localize TPX2. Cell Cycle (2014) 13(14):2248-61. PMID:24875404
- Liu CC, Leclair P, Yap SQ, Lim CJ. The Membrane Proximal KxGFFKR Motif of α-Integrin Mediates Chemoresistance*. Molecular and Cellular Biology (2013) 33:4334-45. PMID:24001772 *MCB Spotlighted Article
- Lee HS*, Anekal P*, Lim CJ*, Liu CC, Ginsberg MH. Two modes of integrin activation form a binary molecular switch in adhesion maturation#. Molecular Biology of the Cell (2013) 24:1354-62. PMID:23468527 *equal contribution #ASCB Highlighted
- Sun G, Cheng SY, Chem M, Lim CJ, Pallen CJ. Protein tyrosine phosphatase α phosphotyrosyl-789 binds BCAR3 to position Cas for activation at integrin-mediated focal adhesions. Molecular and Cellular Biology (2012) 32:3776-3789. PMID:22801373
- Lee HS*, Lim CJ*, Puzon-McLaughlin W, Shattil SJ, Ginsberg MH. RIAM Activates Integrins by Linking Talin to Ras GTPase Membrane-targeting Sequences. Journal of Biological Chemistry (2009) 284:5119-5127. PMID:19098287 *equal contribution
- Lim CJ*, Kain KH*, Tkachenko E, Goldfinger LE, Gutierrez E, Allen MD, Groisman A, Zhang J, Ginsberg MH. Integrin-mediated protein kinase A activation at the leading edge of migrating cells. Molecular Biology of the Cell (2008) 19:4930-41. PMID:18784251*equal contribution
- Lim CJ, Han J, Yousefi N, Ma Y, Amieux PS, McKnight GS, Taylor SS, Ginsberg MH. α4 Integrins are Type I cAMP-dependent protein kinase-anchoring proteins*. Nature Cell Biology (2007) 9:415-421. PMID:17369818 *Featured Article
- Han J, Lim CJ, Watanabe N, Soriani A, Ratnikov B, Calderwood DA, Puzon-McLaughlin W, Lafuente EM, Boussiotis VA, Shattil SJ, Ginsberg MH. Reconstructing and Deconstructing Agonist-induced Activation of Integrin αIIbβ3 (Platelet GPIIb-IIIa)*. Current Biology (2006) 16:1796-1806. PMID:16979556 *Featured Article
- Anthis NJ, Haling JR, Oxley CL, Memo M, Wegener KL, Lim CJ, Ginsberg MH and Campbell ID. Beta integrin tyrosine phosphorylation is a conserved mechanism for regulating talin-induced integrin activation. Journal of Biological Chemistry (2009) 284:36700-36710. PMID:19843520
- Jones, CA, Nishiya N, London NR, Zhu W, Sorensen LK, Chan AC, Lim CJ, Chen H, Zhang Q, Schultz PG, Hayallah AM, Thomas KR, Famulok M, Zhang K, Ginsberg MH and Li DY. Slit2-Robo4 signalling promotes vascular stability by blocking Arf6 activity. Nature Cell Biology (2009) 11:1325-1331. PMID:19855388
Current Openings & Opportunities
Current Projects In My Lab include
Research
- Integrin dependent cell adhesion and migration
- Mechanisms of chemotherapeutic resistance
- Protein interactions and cell signaling
- Tumour microenvironment