Vera Gorbunova

Vera Gorbunova

  • Doris Johns Cherry Professor
  • Professor of Biology
  • Co-director, Rochester Aging Research Center

PhD

Research Active

Now accepting:

PhD students

Please email with inquiries.

Undergraduate researchers

Please email with inquiries.

434 Hutchison
(585) 275-7740
vera.gorbunova@rochester.edu

Office Hours: By appointment

Website


Research Overview

Our research is focused on Aging, DNA repair, and Cancer.

Aging is one of the biggest mysteries of biology. "Why we age?" is a basic biological question, and at the same time it is highly medically relevant. Aging is associated in accumulation of mutations and genomic instability. We study age-related changes in repair of DNA double-strand breaks using human cells and transgenic mice. We are also using comparative approach to study aging by analyzing short- and long-lived animal species. Finally, as aging is associated with increased cancer incidence, we study DNA repair in breast cancer cells, and anti-cancer mechanisms in short- and long-lived rodents.

To learn more about our research, please visit our lab website Gorbunova Lab.

Research Interests

  • Mechanisms of aging
  • Comparative biology of aging
  • Comparative biology of aging
  • DNA repair and genomic instability
  • Anticancer therapy

Selected Publications

  • Quanwei Zhang, Gregory Tombline, Julia Ablaeva, Lei Zhang, Xuming Zhou, Smith Zachary, Alus M. Xiaoli, Zhen Wang, Jhih-Rong Lin, M. Reza Jabalameli, Joydeep Mitra, Nha Nguyen, Jan Vijg, Andrei Seluanov, Vadim N. Gladyshev, Vera Gorbunova, Zhengdong D. Zhang. (2021) North American beaver genome provides insights into the mechanisms of longevity and cancer resistance. (Cell Reports) In revision.
  • Stephan Emmrich, Marco Mariotti, Masaki Takasugi, Maggie E. Straight, Alexandre Trapp, Vadim N. Gladyshev, Andrei Seluanov, Vera Gorbunova (2021) The hematopoietic landscape at single-cell resolution reveals unexpected stem cell features in naked mole-rats. (Cell) In revision.
  • Matthew Simon, Jiping Yang, Jon Gigas, Tory M. Schaff, Lei Zhang, Maria Zagorulya, Greg Tombline, Michael Gilbert, Samantha L. Yu, Alexis Pope, Michael Van Meter, Stephan Emmrich, Jeehae Han, Seungjin Ryu, Archana Tare, Yizhou Zhu, Adam Hudgins, Gil Atzmon, Nir Barzilai, Aaron Wolfe, Kelsey Moody, Benjamin A. Garcia, David D. Thomas, Paul D. Robbins, Jan Vijg, Andrei Seluanov, Yousin Suh, Vera Gorbunova (2021) A rare variant of SIRT6 identified in human centenarians improves genome maintenance and shows stronger interaction with Lamin A (Nature) Under review.
  • Yang Zhao, Ena Oreskovic, Quanwei Zhang, Quan Lu, Abbey Gilman, Junyue He, Jina Lee, Zhonghe Ke, Julia Ablaeva, Matthew Sweet, Steve Horvath, Zhengdong Zhang, Eviatar Nevo, Andrei Seluanov, Vera Gorbunova (2021) Transposon-triggered innate immune response confers cancer resistance to the blind mole rat. (Nature) Under review.
  • Vera Gorbunova, Andrei Seluanov, Paolo Mita, Jef D. Boeke, Sara B. Linker, Fred H. Gage, Jill A. Kreiling, Anna P. Petrashen, Trenton Woodham, Jackson R. Taylor, Stephen L. Helfand, John M. Sedivy. The role of retrotransposable elements in aging and age-associated diseases. (2021) Nature, Accepted.
  • Augereau A, Mariotti M, Pousse M, Filipponi D, Libert F, Beck B, Gorbunova V, Gilson E, Gladyshev VN. Naked mole rat TRF1 safeguards glycolytic capacity and telomere replication under low oxygen. Sci Adv. (2021) Feb 19;7(8):eabe0174. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abe0174. PMID: 33608273.
  • Pawelec G, Bronikowski A, Cunnane SC, Ferrucci L, Franceschi C, Fülöp T, Gaudreau P, Gladyshev VN, Gonos ES, Gorbunova V, Kennedy BK, Larbi A, Lemaître JF, Liu GH, Maier AB, Morais JA, Nóbrega OT, Moskalev A, Rikkert MO, Seluanov A, Senior AM, Ukraintseva S, Vanhaelen Q, Witkowski J, Cohen AA. (2020) The conundrum of human immune system "senescence". Mech Ageing Dev. 2020 Dec;192:111357. doi: 10.1016/j.mad.2020.111357. Epub 2020 Sep 17.PMID: 32949594.
  • Taguchi T, Kotelsky A, Takasugi M, Chang M, Ke Z, Betancourt M, Buckley MR, Zuscik M, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V. (2020) Naked mole-rats are extremely resistant to post-traumatic osteoarthritis. Aging Cell. Nov;19(11):e13255. doi: 10.1111/acel.13255. Epub 2020 Oct 28.PMID: 33112509.
  • Ke Z, Firsanov D, Spencer B, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V. NPJ Aging Mech Dis. (2020) Short-term calorie restriction enhances DNA repair by non-homologous end joining in mice. Aug 14;6:9. doi: 10.1038/s41514-020-00047-2. eCollection 2020.
  • Swovick K, Firsanov D, Welle KA, Hryhorenko J, Wise JP, George C, Sformo TL, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V, Ghaemmaghami S. (2020) Mol Cell Proteomics. Interspecies differences in proteome turnover kinetics are correlated with lifespans and energetic demands. Dec 28:mcp.RA120.002301. doi: 10.1074/mcp.RA120.002301. Online ahead of print. PMID: 33372049.
  • Mkrtchyan GV, Abdelmohsen K, Andreux P, Bagdonaite I, Barzilai N, Brunak S, Cabreiro F, de Cabo R, Campisi J, Cuervo AM, Demaria M, Ewald CY, Fang EF, Faragher R, Ferrucci L, Freund A, Silva-García CG, Georgievskaya A, Gladyshev VN, Glass DJ, Gorbunova V, de Grey A, He WW, Hoeijmakers J, Hoffmann E, Horvath S, Houtkooper RH, Jensen MK, Jensen MB, Kane A, Kassem M, de Keizer P, Kennedy B, Karsenty G, Lamming DW, Lee KF, MacAulay N, Mamoshina P, Mellon J, Molenaars M, Moskalev A, Mund A, Niedernhofer L, Osborne B, Pak HH, Parkhitko A, Raimundo N, Rando TA, Rasmussen LJ, Reis C, Riedel CG, Franco-Romero A, Schumacher B, Sinclair DA, Suh Y, Taub PR, Toiber D, Treebak JT, Valenzano DR, Verdin E, Vijg J, Young S, Zhang L, Bakula D, Zhavoronkov A, Scheibye-Knudsen M. (2020) ARDD 2020: from aging mechanisms to interventions. Aging (Albany NY). Dec 30;12(24):24484-24503. doi: 10.18632/aging.202454. 
  • Simon M., Emmrich S., Seluanov A., Gorbunova V. (2020) A hairy tale: SIRT7 safeguards skin stem cells during aging. EMBO J. Sep 15;39(18):e106294.
  • Kumar V, Agrawal R, Pandey A, Kopf S, Hoeffgen M, Kaymak S, Bandapalli OR, Gorbunova V, Seluanov A, Mall MA, Herzig S, Nawroth PP. (2020) Compromised DNA repair is responsible for diabetes-associated fibrosis. EMBO J. Jun 2;39(11):e103477.
  • Gorbunova V., Masaki Takasugi M., Seluanov A. (2020) Hyaluronan goes to great length. Cell Stress, Jul 17;4(9):227-229. doi: 10.15698/cst2020.09.231.
  • Takasugi M, Firsanov D, Tombline G, Ning H, Ablaeva J, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V. (2020) Naked mole-rat very-high-molecular-mass hyaluronan exhibits superior cytoprotective properties.  Nat Commun. May 12;11(1):2376.
  • Rezazadeh S, Yang D, Biashad SA, Firsanov D, Takasugi M, Gilbert M, Tombline G, Bhanu NV, Garcia BA, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V. (2020) SIRT6 mono-ADP ribosylates KDM2A to locally increase H3K36me2 at DNA damage sites to inhibit transcription and promote repair.  Aging (Albany NY).  Jun 25;12(12):11165-11184.
  • Zhao J, Tian X, Zhu Y, Zhang Z, Rydkina E, Yuan Y, Zhang H, Roy B, Cornwell A, Nevo E, Shang X, Huang R, Kristiansen K, Seluanov A, Fang X, Gorbunova V. (2020) Reply to: Transformation of naked mole-rat cells. 2020 Jul;583(7814):E8-E13.
  • Gorbunova V, Seluanov A, Kennedy BK. (2020) The World Goes Bats: Living Longer and Tolerating Viruses.  Cell Metab. Jul 7;32(1):31-43.
  • Cohen AA, Kennedy BK, Anglas U, Bronikowski AM, Deelen J, Dufour F, Ferbeyre G, Ferrucci L, Franceschi C, Frasca D, Friguet B, Gaudreau P, Gladyshev VN, Gonos ES, Gorbunova V, Gut P, Ivanchenko M, Legault V, Lemaître JF, Liontis T, Liu GH, Liu M, Maier AB, Nóbrega OT, Rikkert MGMO, Pawelec G, Rheault S, Senior AM, Simm A, Soo S, Traa A, Ukraintseva S, Vanhaelen Q, Van Raamsdonk JM, Witkowski JM, Yashin AI, Ziman R, Fülöp T. (2020) Lack of consensus on an aging biology paradigm? A global survey reveals an agreement to disagree, and the need for an interdisciplinary framework.  Mech Ageing Dev.  Oct;191:111316. doi: 10.1016/j.mad.2020.111316.
  • Zhang ZD, Milman S, Lin JR, Wierbowski S, Yu H, Barzilai N, Gorbunova V, Ladiges WC, Niedernhofer LJ, Suh Y, Robbins PD, Vijg J. (2020) Genetics of extreme human longevity to guide drug discovery for healthy ageing. Nat Metab.  Aug;2(8):663-672.doi: 10.1038/s42255-020-0247-0.
  • Zhou X, Dou Q, Fan G, Zhang Q, Sanderford M, Kaya A, Johnson J, Karlsson EK, Tian X, Mikhalchenko A, Kumar S, Seluanov A, Zhang ZD, Gorbunova V, Liu X, Gladyshev VN. (2020) Beaver and Naked Mole Rat Genomes Reveal Common Paths to Longevity. Cell Rep. Jul 28;32(4):107949.
  • Tombline G, Gigas J, Macoretta N, Zacher M, Emmrich S, Zhao Y, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V. (2019) Proteomics of long-lived mammals. 2019 Nov 18:e1800416. doi: 10.1002/pmic.201800416.
  • Katagi H, Louis N, Unruh D, Sasaki T, He X, Zhang A, Ma Q, Piunti A, Shimazu Y, Lamano JB, Carcaboso AM, Tian X, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V, Laurie KL, Kondo A, Wadhwani NR, Lulla R, Goldman S, Venneti S, Becher OJ, Zou L, Shilatifard A, Hashizume R. Radiosensitization by Histone H3 Demethylase Inhibition in Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma. (2019) Clin Cancer Res.  Sep 15;25(18):5572-5583.
  • Chen Y, Zhang H, Xu Z, Tang H, Geng A, Cai B, Su T, Shi J, Jiang C, Tian X, Seluanov A, Huang J, Wan X, Jiang Y, Gorbunova V, Mao Z. A PARP1-BRG1-SIRT1 axis promotes HR repair by reducing nucleosome density at DNA damage sites. (2019) Nucleic Acids Res. Sep 19;47(16):8563-8580.
  • Rezazadeh S, Yang D, Tombline G, Simon M, Regan SP, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V. (2019) SIRT6 promotes transcription of a subset of NRF2 targets by mono-ADP-ribosylating BAF170. Nucleic Acids Res. Sep 5;47(15):7914-7928.
  • Simon M, Van Meter M, Ablaeva J, Ke Z, Gonzalez RS, Taguchi T, De Cecco M, Leonova KI, Kogan V, Helfand SL, Neretti N, Roichman A, Cohen HY, Meer MV, Gladyshev VN, Antoch MP, Gudkov AV, Sedivy JM, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V (2019) LINE1 derepression in aged wild type and SIRT6 deficient mice drives inflammation. Cell Metabolism, 29(4):871-885.e5.
  • De Cecco M, Ito T, Petrashen AP, Elias AE, Skvir NJ, Criscione SW, Caligiana A, Brocculi G, Adney EM, Boeke JD, Le O, Beauséjour C, Ambati J, Ambati K, Simon M, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V, Slagboom PE, Helfand SL, Neretti N, Sedivy JM. (2019) L1 drives IFN in senescent cells and promotes age-associated inflammation. Nature, 566(7742):73-78.
  • Tian X, Firsanov D, Luo L, Tombline G, Henderson S, Steffan J, Tam J, Zheng K, Cornwell A, Johnson A, Yang J-N, Mao Z, Manta B, Gladyshev VN, Zhang Z, Vijg J, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V, (2019) SIRT6 is Responsible for More Efficient DNA Double-Strand Break Repair in Long-Lived Species. Cell, 177(3):622-638.e22.
  • Núñez FJ, Mendez FM, Kadiyala P, Alghamri MS, Savelieff MG, Garcia-Fabiani MB, Haase S, Koschmann C, Calinescu AA, Kamran N, Saxena M, Patel R, Carney S, Guo MZ, Edwards M, Ljungman M, Qin T, Sartor MA, Tagett R, Venneti S, Brosnan-Cashman J, Meeker A, Gorbunova V, Zhao L, Kremer DM, Zhang L, Lyssiotis CA, Jones L, Herting CJ, Ross JL, Hambardzumyan D, Hervey-Jumper S, Figueroa ME, Lowenstein PR, Castro MG. (2019) IDH1-R132H acts as a tumor suppressor in glioma via epigenetic up-regulation of the DNA damage response. Sci Transl Med. 11(479).
  • Chesnokova V, Zonis S, Barrett R, Kameda H, Wawrowsky K, Ben-Shlomo A, Yamamoto M, Gleeson J, Bresee C, Gorbunova V, Melmed S. (2019) Excess growth hormone suppresses DNA damage repair in epithelial cells. JCI Insight. 2019 4(3).
  • Bourque G, Burns KH, Gehring M, Gorbunova V, Seluanov A, Hammell M, Imbeault M, Izsvák Z, Levin HL, Macfarlan TS, Mager DL, Feschotte C. 2018. Ten things you should know about transposable elements. Genome Biol. 19(1):199. 
  • Seluanov A, Gladyshev VN, Vijg J, Gorbunova V. 2018. Mechanisms of cancer resistance in long-lived mammals. Nature Reviews Cancer.18(7):433-441. 
  • Ke Z, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V. 2018. Accurate translation is important for longevity. Aging (Albany NY). 10(3):297-298. 
  • Evdokimov A, Kutuzov M, Petruseva I, Lukjanchikova N, Kashina E, Kolova E, Zemerova T, Romanenko S, Perelman P, Prokopov D, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V, Graphodatsky A, Trifonov V, Khodyreva S, Lavrik O. 2018. Naked mole rat cells display more efficient excision repair than mouse cells. Aging (Albany NY). 10(6):1454-1473. 
  • Ghosh S, Wong S, Liu B, Hao Q, Gorbunova V, Liu X, Zhou Z . 2018. Haploinsufficiency of Trp53 dramatically extends the lifespan of Sirt6-deficient mice. eLife,  eb 23;7. pii: e32127. 
  • Zhao Y, Tyshkovskiy A, Muñoz-Espín D, Tian X, Serrano M, de Magalhaes JP, Nevo E, Gladyshev VN, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V. 2018. Naked mole rats can undergo developmental, oncogene-induced and DNA damage-induced cellular senescence. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 115(8):1801-1806. 
  • Tian X, Doerig K, Park R, Can Ran Qin A, Hwang C, Neary A, Gilbert M, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V. 2018. Evolution of telomere maintenance and tumour suppressor mechanisms across mammals. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. Mar 5;373(1741). 
  • Swovick K, Welle KA, Hryhorenko J, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V, Ghaemmaghami S. 2018. Cross-species comparison of proteome turnover kinetics. Mol Cell Proteomics. 17(4):580-591. 
  • Piscitello D, Varshney D, Lilla S, Vizioli MG, Reid C, Gorbunova V, Seluanov A, Gillespie DA, Adams PD. 2018. AKT overactivation can suppress DNA repair via p70S6 kinase-dependent downregulation of MRE11. Oncogene. Jan 25;37(4):427-438. 
  • Tan L, Ke Z, Tombline G, Macoretta N, Hayes K, Tian X, Lv R, Ablaeva J, Gilbert M, Bhanu NV, Yuan ZF, Garcia BA, Shi YG, Shi Y, 5, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V (2017) Naked mole rat cells have stable epigenome that resists iPSC reprogramming. Stem Cell Reports, Nov 14;9(5):1721-1734.
  • Tian X, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V. (2017) Molecular Mechanisms Determining Lifespan in Short- and Long-Lived Species. Trends Endocrinol Metab. 28(10):722-734.
  • Yang CS, Jividen K, Spencer A, Dworak N, Ni L, Oostdyk LT, Chatterjee M, Kuśmider B, Reon B, Parlak M, Gorbunova V, Abbas T, Jeffery E, Sherman NE, Paschal BM. (2017) Ubiquitin Modification by the E3 Ligase/ADP-Ribosyltransferase Dtx3L/Parp9. Mol Cell. 66(4):503-516.e5.
  • Ke Z, Mallik P, Johnson A, Luna F, Zhang Z, Gladyshev V, Seluanov A. Gobunova V. (2017) Translation fidelity co-evolves with longevity. Aging Cell. 16(5):988-993.
  • Valenzano DR, Aboobaker A, Seluanov A, Gorbunova (2017) Non-canonical aging model systems and why we need them. EMBO J. 36(8):959-963.
  • Li J, Bonkowski MS, Moniot S, Zhang D, Hubbard BP, Ling AJ, Rajman LA, Qin B, Lou Z, Gorbunova V, Aravind L, Steegborn C, Sinclair DA. (2017) A conserved NAD+ binding pocket that regulates protein-protein interactions during aging. 355(6331):1312-1317.
  • Tian X, Seluanov A, Gorbunova (2017) Beyond Making Ends Meet: DNA-PK, Metabolism, and Aging. Cell Metab. 25(5):991-992.
  • Moskalev A, Anisimov V, Aliper A, Artemov A, Asadullah K, Belsky D, Baranova A, de Grey A, Dixit VD, Debonneuil E, Dobrovolskaya E, Fedichev P, Fedintsev A, Fraifeld V, Franceschi C, Freer R, Fülöp T, Feige J, Gems D, Gladyshev V, Gorbunova V, Irincheeva I, Jager S, Jazwinski SM, Kaeberlein M, Kennedy B, Khaltourina D, Kovalchuk I, Kovalchuk O, Kozin S, Kulminski A, Lashmanova E, Lezhnina K, Liu GH, Longo V, Mamoshina P, Maslov A, Pedro de Magalhaes J, Mitchell J, Mitnitski A, Nikolsky Y, Ozerov I, Pasyukova E, Peregudova D, Popov V, Proshkina E, Putin E, Rogaev E, Rogina B, Schastnaya J, Seluanov A, Shaposhnikov M, Simm A, Skulachev V, Skulachev M, Solovev I, Spindler S, Stefanova N, Suh Y, Swick A, Tower J, Gudkov AV, Vijg J, Voronkov A, West M, Wagner W, Yashin A, Zemskaya N, Zhumadilov Z, Zhavoronkov A. (2017) A review of the biomedical innovations for healthy longevity. Aging (Albany NY). 9(1):7-25.
  • Bozek K, Khrameeva EE, Reznick J, Omerbašić D, Bennett NC, Lewin GR, Azpurua J, Gorbunova V, Seluanov A, Regnard P, Wanert F, Marchal J, Pifferi F, Aujard F, Liu Z, Shi P, Pääbo S, Schroeder F, Willmitzer L, Giavalisco P, Khaitovich P. (2017) Lipidome determinants of maximal lifespan in mammals. Sci Rep. 7(1):5.
  • Ma S, Upneja A, Galecki A, Tsai YM, Burant CF, Raskind S, Zhang Q, Zhang ZD, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V, Clish CB, Miller RA, Gladyshev VN. (2016) Cell culture-based profiling across mammals reveals DNA repair and metabolism as determinants of species longevity. eLife 5:e19130.
  • Van Meter M, Simon M, Tombline G, May A, Morello TD, Hubbard BP, Bredbenner K, Park R, Sinclair D, Bohr VA, Gorbunova V, and Seluanov A. (2016) JNK phosphorylates SIRT6 to stimulate DNA double strand break repair in response to oxidative stress by recruiting PARP1 to DNA breaks. Cell Reports. 16(10):2641-50.
  • Dokukin M, Ablaeva Y, Kalaparthi V, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V, Sokolov I. (2016) Pericellular Brush and Mechanics of Guinea Pig Fibroblast Cells Studied with AFM. Biophys J. 111(1):236-46.
  • Hewitt G, Carroll B, Sarallah R, Correia-Melo C, Ogrodnik M, Nelson G, Otten EG, Manni D, Antrobus R, Morgan BA, von Zglinicki T, Jurk D, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V, Johansen T, Passos JF, Korolchuk VI. (2016) SQSTM1/p62 mediates crosstalk between autophagy and the UPS in DNA repair. 12(10):1917-1930.
  • Gorbunova V, Rezazadeh S, Seluanov A. (2016) Dangerous Entrapment for NRF2. Cell 165(6):1312-3.
  • Patrick A, Seluanov M, Hwang C, Tam J, Khan T, Morgenstern A, Wiener L, Vazquez JM, Zafar H, Wen R, Muratkalyeva M, Doerig K, Zagorulya M, Cole L, Catalano S, Ladd AA, Coppi AA, Coşkun Y, Tian X, Ablaeva J, Nevo E, Gladyshev VN, Zhang ZD, Vijg J, Seluanov A, Gorbunova (2016) Sensitivity of primary fibroblasts in culture to atmospheric oxygen does not correlate with species lifespan. Aging (Albany NY) (5):841-7.
  • Gorbunova V, Seluanov A. (2016) DNA double strand break repair, aging and the chromatin connection. Mutation Research, 788:2-6.
  • Koschmann C, Calinescu AA, Nunez FJ, Mackay A, Fazal-Salom J, Thomas D, Mendez F, Kamran N, Dzaman M, Mulpuri L, Krasinkiewicz J, Doherty R, Lemons R, Brosnan-Cashman JA, Li Y, Roh S, Zhao L, Appelman H, Ferguson D, Gorbunova V, Meeker A, Jones C, Lowenstein PR, Castro MG. (2016) ATRX Loss Promotes Tumor Growth and Impairs Non-Homologous End Joining DNA Repair in Glioma. Science Translational Medicine. 8(328):328ra28.
  • Brohus M, Gorbunova V, Faulkes CG, Overgaard MT, Conover CA. 2015. The Insulin-Like Growth Factor System in the Long-Lived Naked Mole-Rat.PLoS One Dec 22;10(12):e0145587.
  • Ma S, Lee SG, Kim EB, Park TJ, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V, Buffenstein R, Seravalli J, Gladyshev VN. 2015. Organization of the Mammalian Ionome According to Organ Origin, Lineage Specialization, and Longevity.Cell Reports13(7): 1319-26.
  • Seluanov A, and Gorbunova V. 2015. The next top models: The naked truth. Cell163(1): 18.
  • MacRae SL, Croken MM, Calder RB, Aliper A, Milholland B, White RR, Zhavoronkov A, Gladyshev VN, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V, Zhang ZD, and Vijg J. 2015. DNA repair in species with extreme lifespan differences.Aging (Albany NY). 2015 Dec; 7(12): 1171-84.
  • Van Meter M, Seluanov A, and Gorbunova V. 2015. Wrangling Retrotransposons. The Scientist. March 1.
  • MacRae SL, Zhang Q, Lemetre C, Seim I, Calder RB, Hoeijmakers J, Suh Y, Gladyshev VN, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V, Vijg J, and Zhang ZD. 2015. Comparative analysis of genome maintenance genes in naked mole rat, mouse, and human. Aging Cell. 14(2): 288-91.
  • Tian X, Azpurua J, Gorbunova V, and Seluanov A. 2015. INK4 locus of the tumor-resistant rodent, the naked mole rat, expresses a functional p15/p16 hybrid isoform. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 112(4): 1053-8.
  • Xu Z, Zhang L, Zhang W, Meng D, Zhang H, Jiang Y, Xu X, Van Meter M, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V, Mao Z. 2015. SIRT6 rescues the age related decline in base excision repair in a PARP1-dependent manner. Cell Cycle, 14(2): 269-76.
  • Gorbunova V., Boeke J.D., Helfand S.L., Sedivy J.M. 2014. Human Genomics. Sleeping dogs of the genome. Science.346(6214):1187-8.
  • VanMeter M, Gorbunova V, and Seluanov A. 2014. SIRT6: a promising target for cancer prevention and therapy, in “Anticancer Genes”, Editor: Grimm S., Springer.
  • Keane M, Craig T, Alföldi J, Berlin AM, Johnson J, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V, Di Palma F, Lindblad-Toh K, Church GM, de Magalhães JP. 2014. The Naked Mole Rat Genome Resource: facilitating analyses of cancer and longevity-related adaptations. Bioinformatics.30(24): 3558-60.
  • Van Meter M, Kashyap M, Sarallah R, Tian X, Seluanov A, and Gorbunova V. 2014. SIRT6 represses LINE1s by ribosylating Kap1 and the repression fails with aging and stress. Nature Communications, 5: 5011.
  • Vaidya A, Mao Z, Tian X, Spencer B, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V. 2014. Knock-in reporter mice demonstrate that DNA repair by non-homologous end joining declines with age. PLoS Genetics10(7): e1004511.
  • Fang X, Nevo E, Han L, Levanon EY, Zhao J, Avivi A, Larkin D, Jiang X, Feranchuk S, Zhu Y, Fishman A, Feng Y, Sher N, Xiong Z, Hankeln T, Huang Z, Gorbunova V, Zhang L, Zhao W, Wildman DE, Xiong Y, Gudkov A, Zheng Q, Rechavi G, Liu S, Bazak L, Chen J, Knisbacher BA, Lu Y, Shams I, Gajda K, Farré M, Kim J, Lewin HA, Ma J, Band M, Bicker A, Kranz A, Mattheus T, Schmidt H, Seluanov A, Azpurua J, McGowen MR, Ben Jacob E, Li K, Peng S, Zhu X, Liao X, Li S, Krogh A, Zhou X, Brodsky L, Wang J. 2014. Genome-wide adaptive complexes to underground stresses in blind mole rats Spalax. Nature Communications, 5: 3966.
  • Gorbunova V, Seluanov A, Zhang Z, Gladyshev V, and Vijg J. 2014. Comparative genetics of longevity and cancer: insights from long-lived rodents. Nature Reviews Genetics, 15(8): 531-40 (Invited review).
  • Hine CM, Li H, Xie L, Mao Z, Seluanov A, Gorbunova V. 2014. Regulation of Rad51 promoter. Cell Cycle13(13): 2038-45.
  • XuY, CaoY, LiZ, JiangY, SeluanovA, GorbunovaV, and Mao Z.  2014. Utilization of Rad51C promoter for selective killing of cancer cells. Oncotarget,5(7): 1805-11.
  • KeZ., VaidyaA., Jill Ascher J., Seluanov A. and Gorbunova V. 2014. Novel husbandry techniques support survival of naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber) pups. J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci., 53(1): 89-91.
  • Yao H, Sundar IK, Gorbunova V, Rahman I. 2013. P21-PARP-1 pathway is involved in cigarette smoke-induced lung DNA damage and cellular senescence.PLoS One. 8(11):e80007.
  • Tilgner K, Neganova I, Moreno-Gimeno I, Al-Aama JY, Burks D, Yung S, Singhapol C, Saretzki G, Evans J, Gorbunova V, Gennery A, Przyborski S, Stojkovic M, Armstrong L, Jeggo P, Lako M. 2013. A human iPSC model of Ligase IV deficiency reveals an important role for NHEJ-mediated-DSB repair in the survival and genomic stability of induced pluripotent stem cells and emerging haematopoietic progenitors. Cell Death Differ. 20(8):1089-100.
  • Tilgner K, Neganova I, Singhapol C, Saretzki G, Yousuf Al-Aama J, Evans J, Gorbunova V, Gennery A, Przyborski S, Stojkovic M, Armstrong L, Jeggo P, Lako M. 2013. A human induced pluripotent stem cell model of cernunnos deficiency reveals an important role for XLF in the survival of the primitive haematopoietic progenitors. Stem Cells. doi: 10.1002/stem.1456.
  • Leu JD, Chiu YW, Lo CC, Chiang PH, Chiu SJ, Tsai CH, Hwang JJ, Chen RC, Gorbunova V, Lee YJ. 2013. Enhanced cellular radiosensitivity induced by cofilin-1 over-expression is associated with reduced DNA repair capacity. Int J Radiat Biol. 89(6):433-44.
  • AzpuruaJ., KeZ., Chen I., ZhangQ., ErmolenkoD.N., Zhendong D. Zhang Z.D., Gorbunova V. SeluanovA. 2013. Naked mole-rat has increased translational fidelity compared with the mouse, as well as a unique 28S ribosomal RNA cleavage.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 110(43): 17350-5.
  • Yang J-N, Seluanov A., Gorbunova V. 2013. Mitochondrial inverted repeats strongly correlate with lifespan: mtDNA inversions and aging. PLoS One, 8(9): e73318.
  • Azpurua J, Yang JN, Van Meter M, Liu Z, Kim J, Lobo Ladd AA, Coppi AA, Gorbunova V, Seluanov A. 2013. IGF1R levels in the brain negatively correlate with longevity in 16 rodent species.Aging. 5(4): 304-14.
  • Xiao T., Azpurua J., Hine C., Mao Z., Rempel M., Gorbunova V., and Seluanov A. 2013. High molecular weight hyaluronan mediates cancer resistance of the naked mole rat. Nature, 499(7458): 346-9.
  • Azpurua J. and Seluanov A. 2013. Long-lived cancer-resistant rodents as new model species for cancer research. Frontiers in Genetics,3:319.
  • VanMeter M., Seluanov A., and Gorbunova V. 2012. Forever young? Exploring the link between rapamycin, longevity and cancer. Cell Cycle,11(23): 4296-7.
  • Gorbunova, V., Hine C., Tian X., Ablaeva J., Gudkov A.V., Nevo E., and Seluanov A. 2012. Cancer resistance in the blind mole rat is mediated by concerted necrotic cell death mechanism. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 109(47): 19392-6.
  • Mao Z., Tian X., VanMeter M., Gorbunova V., and Seluanov A. 2012. Sirtuin 6 (SIRT6) rescues the decline of homologous recombination repair during replicative senescence.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 109(29): 11800-5.
  • Anisimov VN, Bartke A, Barzilai N, Batin MA, Blagosklonny MV, Brown-Borg H, Budovskaya Y, Campisi J, Friguet B, Fraifeld V, Franceschi C, Gems D, Gladyshev V, Gorbunova V, Gudkov AV, Kennedy B, Konovalenko M, Kraemer B, Moskalev A, Petropoulos I, Pasyukova E, Rattan S, Rogina B, Seluanov A, Shaposhnikov M, Shmookler Reis R, Tavernarakis N, Vijg J, Yashin A, Zimniak P.  2012. The second international conference "genetics of aging and longevity" Aging.  4(5): 305-17.
  • Mao Z., Ke Z., Gorbunova V., and Seluanov A.2012. Replicatively senescent cells are arrested in G1 and G2 phases.Aging4(6): 431-5.
  • Mao Z., Tian X., VanMeter M., Gorbunova V., and Seluanov A.2012. SIRT6 rescues senescence-related decline in DNA repair by homologous recombination.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, In press
  • Rahman I, Kinnula VL, Gorbunova V, Yao H.2012. SIRT1 as a therapeutic target in inflammaging of the pulmonary disease.Prev Med. 2012, 54 Suppl:S20-8
  • Fong, V., Osterbur M., Kim Y., Hine C., Gorbunova V., Seluanov A., and Dewhurst S.2011. Adenoviral vector driven by a minimal Rad51 promoter is selective for p53-deficient tumor cells.PLOS One, 6(12):e28714
  • VanMeter M., Mao Z., Gorbunova V., and Seluanov A.2011. Repairing split ends: SIRT6, mono-ADP ribosylation and DNA repair.Aging, (9):829-35
  • VanMeter M., Gorbunova V., and Seluanov A.2011. Sirt6 overexpression induces massive apoptosis in cancer cells but not in normal cells.Cell Cycle, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15888314:3153-8
  • Mao Z., Hine C., VanMeter M., Tian X., Vaidya A., Seluanov A. and Gorbunova V.2011. SIRT6 promotes DNA repair under stress by mono-ADP-ribosylating PARP1.Science, 17;332(6036):1443-6.*
    *Comment in: Sirtuin 6 and DNA Repair, Guy Riddihough, Science Signaling 21 June 2011: ec177.
    *Selected for Faculty of 1000
  • Seluanov A., Vaidya A., and Gorbunova V.2010. Establishing primary adult fibroblast cultures from rodents.JoVE, 8;(43). pii: 2002. doi: 10.3791/2002
  • Seluanov A., Mao Z., and Gorbunova V.2010. Analysis of DNA Double-Strand Break (DSB) Repair in Mammalian Cells.JoVE, Oct 5;(44). pii: 2033. doi: 10.3791/2033
  • Seluanov A., Hine C., Azpurua J., Feigenson M., Mao Z., Catania K.C., and Gorbunova V.2009. Naked mole-rat cells are hypersensitive to contact inhibition – a clue to extraordinary cancer resistance.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci, USA, 106(46):19352-7.**
    **Received Cozzarelli Prize for a paper of outstanding scientific excellence and originality published in 2009
    **Selected for Faculty of 1000
  • Mao Z., Jiang Y., Seluanov A., and Gorbunova V.2009. DNA repair by homologous recombination, but not by nonhomologous end joining, is elevated in breast cancer cells.Neoplasia, 11(7):683-691.
  • Gorbunova, V., and A. Seluanov.2009. Coevolution of telomerase activity and body mass in mammals: from mice to beavers.Mech. Aging Dev., 130(1-2):3-9.
  • Hine, C., Seluanov, A., and V. Gorbunova.2008. Use of Rad51 promoter for targeted anticancer therapy.Proc Natl Acad Sci 105(53):20810-5.
  • Mao, Z., Bozzella, M., Seluanov, A., and V. Gorbunova.2008. DNA repair by nonhomologous end joining and homologous recombination during cell cycle in human cells.Cell Cycle 7(18):2902-6.
  • Seluanov, A., Hine, C., Bozzella, M., Hall, A., Sasahara, T.H.C., Ribeiro, A.A.C.M., Catania, K.C., Presgraves, D.C., and V. Gorbunova.2008. Distinct tumor suppressor mechanisms evolve in rodent species that differ in size and lifespan.Aging Cell 7(6):813-823.
  • Mao, Z., Bozzella, M., Seluanov, A., and V. Gorbunova.2008. Comparison of nonhomologous end joining and homologous recombination in human cells.DNA Repair (Amst)7(10):1765-71.
  • Gorbunova, V., Bozella, M., and A. Seluanov.2008. Rodents for comparative aging studies: from mice to beavers.Age30(2-3):111-119. (Invited review)
  • Dion, V., Lin, Y., Price, B.A., Fyffe, S. L., Seluanov, A., Gorbunova, V., and J.H. Wilson.2008. Genome-wide demethylation promotes triplet repeat instability independently of homologous recombination.DNA Repair (Amst)7(2):313-20.
  • Gorbunova, V., Seluanov A., Mao Z., and Hine C.2007. Changes in DNA repair during Aging.Nucleic Acids Res.35(22):7466-74. (Invited review)
  • Seluanov A., Danek J., and V. Gorbunova.2007. Changes in the level and distribution of Ku proteins during cellular senescence.DNA Repair (Amst)6(12):1740-8.
  • Mao Z., Seluanov A., Jiang Y., and V. Gorbunova.2007. TRF2 is required for repair of non-telomeric DNA double-strand breaks by homologous recombination.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA104(32):13068-13073. 
  • Seluanov A., Chen Z., Hine C., Sasahara T.H.C., Ribeiro A.A.C.M., Catania K.C., Presgraves D.C., and V. Gorbunova.2007. Telomerase Activity Coevolves with Body Mass not Lifespan.Aging Cell6(1):45-52.
  • Shi X, Seluanov A, and V. Gorbunova.2006. Cell divisions are required for L1 retrotransposition.Mol. Cell. Biol.27(4):1264-1270
  • Gorbunova, V. and A. Seluanov.2005. Making ends meet in old age: DSB repair and aging.Mech. Aging Dev.126(6-7):621-628. (Invited Review) 
  • Seluanov, A., Mittelman, D., Pereira-Smith, O.M., Wilson, J.H., and V. Gorbunova.2004. DNA repair by nonhomologous end joining becomes less efficient and more error-prone during cellular senescence.Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA101(20):7624-7629.
  • Gorbunova, V., Seluanov, A., Mittelman, D. and J.H. Wilson.2004. Genome-wide demethylation destabilizes CTGáCAG trinucleotide repeats in mammalian cells.Human Molecular Genetics13(23):2979-2989
  • Gorbunova, V., and A. Seluanov.2003. Telomerase as a growth promoting factor.Cell Cycle2(6):534-537.
  • Gorbunova, V., Seluanov, A., Dion, V., Sandor, Z., Meservy, J.L., and J.H. Wilson.2003. Selectable system for monitoring the instability of CTGáCAG triplet repeats in mammalian cells.Mol. Cell Biol.23(13):4485-4493.
  • Gorbunova, V., Seluanov, A., and O.M. Pereira-Smith.2003. Evidence that high telomerase activity may induce a senescent-like growth arrest in normal human fibroblasts.J. Biol. Chem.278(9):7692-7698
  • Gorbunova V., Seluanov A., and O.M. Pereira-Smith.2002. Expression of hTERT protects normal human fibroblasts from stress-induced apoptosis and necrosis but does not prevent stress-induced premature senescence.J. Biol. Chem.277(41):38540-38549.
  • Seluanov, A., Gorbunova, V., Falcovitz, A., Sigal, A., Milyavsky, M., Zurer., I., Shohat, G., Goldfinger, N. and V. Rotter.2001. Change of the death pathway in senescent human fibroblasts in response to DNA damage is caused by an inability to stabilize p53.Mol. Cell Biol.21(5):1552-1564.
  • Gorbunova, V., Avivi-Ragolski, N., Shalev, G., Kovalchuk, I., Abbo, S., Hohn, B. and A.A. Levy.2000. A new hyperrecombinogenic mutant of nicotiana tabacum.Plant J.24(5):601-11.
  • Gorbunova, V. and A.A. Levy.2000. Analysis of extrachromosomal Ac/Ds transposable elements.Genetics155(1):349-359.
  • Gorbunova, V., Ramos, C., Hohn, B., and A.A. Levy.2000. A nuclear protein that binds specifically to several maize transposons is not essential for Ds1 excision.Mol. Gen. Genet.263(3):492-497.
  • Gorbunova, V. and A.A. Levy.1999. How plants make ends meet: DNA double-strand break repair.Trends Plant Sci.4(7):263-269
  • Gorbunova, V. and A.A. Levy.1997. Nonhomologous DNA end joining in plant cells is associated with deletions and filler DNA insertions.Nucleic Acids Res.25:4650-4657.
  • Gorbunova, V. and A.A. Levy.1997. Circularized Ac/Ds transposons: formation, structure and fate. Genetics145:1161-1169.