About K. (Kristina) Lanko, PhD
Introduction
My research focuses on the biology of neural dysfunction, with particular emphasis on gene regulation in pathogen-host interactions and in neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Using in vitro models I try to understand how the variants in human genes lead to neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) and how the gene regulation is linked to response to infections.
Field(s) of expertise
My research integrates genetics, neurobiology, and virology to elucidate mechanisms underlying neural dysfunction, with a particular focus on neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) and chromatinopathies. My work encompasses two complementary research areas:
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investigating the regulation of intrinsic antiviral responses within the host, addressing the question of recurrent infections in NDD patients.
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employing patient-derived iPSC lines and in vitro disease models to characterize functional consequences of pathogenic variants in genes including SETD1B, BICRA, BICRAL etc.
Methodology to address these topics includes iPSC-based neural models, genomics approaches, virological assays and compound efficacy screenings. My background in neurotropic RNA viruses, gained during my PhD at Prof.Neyts lab, KU Leuven, provides insights into virus-host interactions in the nervous system. Pursuing my long-term interest in human genetics I joined the department of Clinical genetics in 2020. Here I gained experience in working on different aspects of disease modelling and regulation of gene expression. My projects often originate from clinical NDD cases and, while progressing through wet lab investigations, provide fundamental and translational insights into disease biology.
Publications
Antiviral effects of selected nucleoside analogues against human parechoviruses A1 and A3. Lanko K, Ma Y, Delang L, Mirabelli C, Neyts J (2019) Antiviral Res 162: 51–53, DOI: 10.1016/J.ANTIVIRAL.2018.12.009.
Replication of the Zika virus in different iPSC-derived neuronal cells and implications to assess efficacy of antivirals. Lanko K, Eggermont K, Patel A, Kaptein S, Delang L, Verfaillie CM, Neyts J (2017) Antiviral Res 145: 82–86, DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2017.07.010
Viral engagement with host (co-) receptors blocked by a novel class of tryptophan dendrimers that targets the 5-fold-axis of the enterovirus-A71 capsid. Sun L, Lee H, Thibaut HJ, Lanko K, Rivero-Buceta E, Bator C, Martinez-Gualda B, Dallmeier K, Delang L, Leyssen P, Gago F, San-Félix A, Hafenstein S, Mirabelli C & Neyts J (2019). PLOS Pathog. 15: e1007760, DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1007760.
Alpha-ketoamides as broad-spectrum inhibitors of coronavirus and enterovirus replication. Zhang L, Lin D, Kusov Y, Nian Y, Ma Q, Wang J, Brunn A von, Leyssen P, Lanko K, Neyts J, Wilde A de, Snijder EJ, Liu H & Hilgenfeld R (2020) . J. Med. Chem. 63(9): 4562-4578, DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b01828.
Teaching activities
In my projects I supervise and mentor PhD candidates and postdocs. I find it particularly rewarding to guide enthusiastic future scientists in their master’s and bachelor’s internship projects.
I give lectures on my research topics and participate in outreach program helping high school students designing their own scientific experiments.
Other positions
Member of the MT Research at the department of Clinical Genetics
Board member of the Postdoc Network of Erasmus MC
