Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences
Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences / Pharmacogenomics Unit
Wolfgang Pauli-Strasse 10
8093 Zurich
Switzerland Google Maps link
11-2012 – present RNA Regulatory Networks group, Institute of Molecular and Life Sciences, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Post-doctoral fellow
Supervision: Mihaela Zavolan
Research experience
09-2012 – 11-2012 Statistical Genomics group, Institute of Molecular and Life Sciences, University of Zurich, Switzerland
Supervision: Mark Robinson
Project title: "Development of tools and methods for the analysis of ribosomal profiling data in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae."
11-2007 – 06-2012 Pharmacogenomics Unit, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Supervision: André Gerber, Michael Detmar
Project title: “Tools and strategies for the unraveling of post-transcriptional gene regulatory networks”
12-2006 – 02-2007 Swammerdam Institute of Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Supervision: Stanley Brul, Hans van der Spek
Project title: “Status, complications and future prospects of highly active antiretroviral therapy”
02-2006 – 07-2006 Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore
Supervision: Vinay Tergaonkar
Project title: “Characterization of a putative IKK2 in Danio Rerio”
10-2004 – 09-2005 Department of Hepatology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Supervision: Jurgen Seppen
Project titles: ”Lentiviral gene transfer of chemically inducible hepatocyte growth factor receptor” and “Liver re-targeting of lentiviral particles”
03-2004 – 07-2004 Institute of Biological Chemistry, Technical University of Munich, Germany
Supervision: Arne Skerra, Ingo Korndörfer
Project title: ”Production and characterization of the enzymatically active domain of the endolysine Ply500 isolated from Listeria monocytogenes bacteriophage A 500”
08-2003 – 10-2003 & 07-2004 – 08-2004 Traineeships Research and Development at Micromet, Inc., Munich, Germany
Acquired skills
Experienced with transcriptomics (microarray) and proteomics (mass spectrometry) techniques as well as standard biochemical, molecular and cell biological techniques (cell culturing, cloning, Western/Northern blotting, immunopurification, qPCR, FACS, immunofluorescence, in vitro enzymatic and binding assays); used model systems: human cell lines, zebrafish, E. coli, P. pastoris, lentiviral vectors; profound knowledge of statistical and bioinformatics-based analytical methods (intermediate to advanced knowledge of Perl); highly developed scientific writing, data preparation, presentation and publication skills
Education
Molecular Life Sciences, Ph.D., ETH Zurich, Switzerland (December 2011) Medical Biochemistry, M.Sc., University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands (March 2007) Molecular Biotechnology, B.Sc., Technical University of Munich, Germany (July 2004)
Expertise
Profound knowledge of gene regulatory systems and networks with a particular focus on post-transcriptional gene regulation; strong background in biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology; familiarity with bioinformatics and biotechnology concepts and methods
Publications
Kanitz A. (2013). Post-Transcriptional Gene Regulation: Tools and Strategies for the Unraveling of Post-Transcriptional Gene Regulatory Networks. Based on dissertation #20147 at ETH Zurich. Südwestdeutscher Verlag für Hochschulschriften. ISBN-13: 978-3838136707
Kanitz A, Imig J, Dziunycz PJ, Primorac A, Galgano A, Hofbauer GFL, Gerber AP^, Detmar M^. (2012). The Expression Levels of MicroRNA-361-5p and Its Target VEGFA Are Inversely Correlated in Human Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma. PLoS One. 7(11):e49568
Kanitz A^, Imig J^, Gerber AP. (2012). RNA regulons and the RNA-protein interaction network. Biomol Concepts 3(5):403-414
Kanitz A, Gerber AP. (2010). Circuitry of mRNA regulation. Wiley Interdiscip Rev Syst Biol Med. 2(2):245-51
Galgano A, Forrer M, Jaskiewicz L, Kanitz A, Zavolan M, Gerber AP. (2008). Comparative analysis of mRNA targets for human PUF-family proteins suggests extensive interaction with the miRNA regulatory system. PLoS One. 3(9):e3164
Korndörder IP, Kanitz A, Danzer J, Zimmer M, Loessner MJ, Skerra A. (2008). Structural analysis of the L-alanoyl-D-glutamate endopeptidase domain of Listeria bacteriophage endolysin Ply500 reveals a member of the LAS peptidase family. Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr. 64(Pt 6):644-50
Markusic DM, Kanitz A, Oude-Elferink RP, Seppen J. (2007). Preferential gene transfer of lentiviral vectors to liver-derived cells, using a hepatitis B peptide displayed on GP64. Hum Gene Ther. 18(7):673-9
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