Gerta Hoxhaj, Ph.D.

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Gerta Hoxhaj received her bachelor’s degree from Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey, with a double major in molecular biology and genetics and chemistry. She earned her Ph.D. in biochemistry and cell signaling from the MRC Protein Phosphorylation and Ubiquitylation Unit, University of Dundee, Scotland, UK, where she characterized a novel E3 ubiquitin ligase, ZNRF2, as a downstream effector of PI3K signaling. In 2013, Dr. Hoxhaj joined the laboratory of Dr. Brendan Manning at the Harvard School of Public Health, where she worked on understanding how oncogenic signaling influences cellular metabolism. Her work discovered new mechanisms that link PI3K-Akt-mTORC1 signaling with the control of nucleotide and redox metabolism.

In 2019, Dr. Hoxhaj joined the faculty of Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern and became a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Scholar. She holds secondary appointments in the departments of pediatrics and biochemistry at UT Southwestern.

The Hoxhaj lab is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms that control cellular metabolism, particularly in cancer to develop a comprehensive map of the connections between signaling pathways and metabolic networks and identify nutrient and metabolic vulnerabilities of cancer cells. These findings have the potential to reveal new therapeutic strategies for cancer and other metabolic disorders.

Hoxhaj Laboratory

Undergraduate

Bogazci University (2008), Molecular Biology

Graduate School

Univ of Dundee (2013), Biochemistry

• Cancer Metabolism
• Kinase signaling
• Nutrient Signaling

Featured Publications

Crystal structure of human NADK2 reveals a dimeric organization and active site occlusion by lysine acetylation.

Mary C, Soflaee MH, Kesavan R, Gelin M, Brown H, Zacharias G, Mathews TP, Lemoff A, Lionne C, Labesse G, Hoxhaj G, Mol Cell 2022 Jul

Purine nucleotide depletion prompts cell migration by stimulating the serine synthesis pathway.

Soflaee MH, Kesavan R, Sahu U, Tasdogan A, Villa E, Djabari Z, Cai F, Tran DH, Vu HS, Ali ES, Rion H, O'Hara BP, Kelekar S, Hallett JH, Martin M, Mathews TP, Gao P, Asara JM, Manning BD, Ben-Sahra I, Hoxhaj G, Nat Commun 2022 May 13 1 2698

Mitochondrial NADP⁺ is essential for proline biosynthesis during cell growth.

Tran DH, Kesavan R, Rion H, Soflaee MH, Solmonson A, Bezwada D, Vu HS, Cai F, Phillips JA, DeBerardinis RJ, Hoxhaj G, Nat Metab 2021 04 3 4 571-585

The PI3K-AKT network at the interface of oncogenic signalling and cancer metabolism.

Hoxhaj G, Manning BD, Nat. Rev. Cancer 2019 Nov

Direct stimulation of NADP⁺ synthesis through Akt-mediated phosphorylation of NAD kinase.

Hoxhaj G, Ben-Sahra I, Lockwood SE, Timson RC, Byles V, Henning GT, Gao P, Selfors LM, Asara JM, Manning BD, Science 2019 03 363 6431 1088-1092

The mTORC1 Signaling Network Senses Changes in Cellular Purine Nucleotide Levels.

Hoxhaj G, Hughes-Hallett J, Timson RC, Ilagan E, Yuan M, Asara JM, Ben-Sahra I, Manning BD, Cell Rep 2017 Oct 21 5 1331-1346

The E3 ubiquitin ligase ZNRF2 is a substrate of mTORC1 and regulates its activation by amino acids.

Hoxhaj G, Caddye E, Najafov A, Houde VP, Johnson C, Dissanayake K, Toth R, Campbell DG, Prescott AR, MacKintosh C, Elife 2016 04 5

mTORC1 induces purine synthesis through control of the mitochondrial tetrahydrofolate cycle.

Ben-Sahra I, Hoxhaj G, Ricoult SJH, Asara JM, Manning BD, Science 2016 Feb 351 6274 728-733

ZNRF2 is released from membranes by growth factors and, together with ZNRF1, regulates the Na+/K+ATPase.

Hoxhaj G, Najafov A, Toth R, Campbell DG, Prescott AR, MacKintosh C, J. Cell. Sci. 2012 Oct 125 Pt 19 4662-75

• Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) Scholar