Charilaos (Harry) Filippakis
Education
Brief biography
Harry Filippakis was born in Heraklion, Crete, Greece and was always drawn to biological sciences. This became the driving force behind his decision to study abroad at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. After receiving his bachelor’s degree (Hons) in Genetics he moved back to Greece to attend the graduate program of Molecular Basis of Human Disease at the University of Crete, Medical School. In 2011, Harry earned his Ph.D. with a focus on the impact of human cytomegalovirus infection on the tumorigenic Ras signaling pathway. Harry then moved to the United States to study oncogenic viruses and chromosomal instability as a postdoctoral fellow at Tufts Medical Center. In 2013, Dr. Filippakis joined the laboratory of Dr. Elizabeth Henske at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where he worked on understanding how nutrient uptake and recycling contribute to the pathogenesis of TSC and LAM.
Dr. Filippakis is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of New England, College of Osteopathic Medicine. His laboratory focuses on macropinocytosis, lysosomal metabolism, and autophagy in mTORC1-hyperactive cells, integrating metabolomic, proteomic, and transcriptomic methodologies and in vivo models. Harry has been funded by The LAM Foundation, and by the Department of Defense Kidney Cancer Research Program.
Postdoctoral Training
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Tufts Medical Center, Boston
Research Interests
Mechanisms of aberrant mTORC1 activation | Macropinocytosis | Metabolic reprograming in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC) and Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) | Cancer metabolism
Publications
For a complete publication list please click this link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1jakhfIVpddAc/bibliography/public/
- Wang J, Filippakis H, Hougard T, Du H, Ye C, Liu HJ, Zhang L, Hindi K, Bagwe S, Nijmeh J, Asara JM, Shi W, El-Chemaly S, Henske EP, Lam HC. Interleukin-6 mediates PSAT1 expression and serine metabolism in TSC2-deficient cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021 Sep 28;118(39). doi: 10.1073/pnas.2101268118. PubMed PMID: 34544857; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8488612.
- Belaid A, Filippakis H. Quantitative Assessment of Macropinocytosis in mTORC1-Hyperactive Cells using Flow Cytometry. J Vis Exp. 2021 Aug 2;(174). doi: 10.3791/62793. PubMed PMID: 34398147.
- Kovalenko A, Sanin A, Kosmas K, Zhang L, Wang J, Akl EW, Giannikou K, Probst CK, Hougard TR, Rue RW, Krymskaya VP, Asara JM, Lam HC, Kwiatkowski DJ, Henske EP, Filippakis H. Therapeutic Targeting of DGKA-Mediated Macropinocytosis Leads to Phospholipid Reprogramming in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex. Cancer Res. 2021 Apr 15;81(8):2086-2100. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-20-2218. Epub 2021 Feb 16. PubMed PMID: 33593821; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8137542.
- Filippakis H, Belaid A, Siroky B, Wu C, Alesi N, Hougard T, Nijmeh J, Lam HC, Henske EP. Vps34-mediated macropinocytosis in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex 2-deficient cells supports tumorigenesis. Sci Rep. 2018 Sep 21;8(1):14161. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-32256-x. PubMed PMID: 30242175; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6155086.
- Filippakis H, Alesi N, Ogorek B, Nijmeh J, Khabibullin D, Gutierrez C, Valvezan AJ, Cunningham J, Priolo C, Henske EP. Lysosomal regulation of cholesterol homeostasis in tuberous sclerosis complex is mediated via NPC1 and LDL-R. Oncotarget. 2017 Jun 13;8(24):38099-38112. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.17485. PubMed PMID: 28498820; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5503518.
