Ileana M. Cristea

Contact
icristea@princeton.eduFaculty Assistant
Mary GidaroEducation
- Ph.D., Michael Barber Centre for Mass Spectrometry, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
- M.Chem., Medicinal Chemistry, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
Research Area
Microbiology & VirologyResearch Focus
Virology meets Proteomics: Cellular Host Defense versus Virus Immune EvasionThe research of our laboratory is at the interface between virology and proteomics. We are studying cellular mechanisms used in defense against viruses, as well as mechanisms used by viruses to inhibit or hijack host cell processes. For these studies, we use multidisciplinary approaches, integrating molecular virology, microscopy, mass spectrometry-based proteomics, and bioinformatics. We have developed a series of proteomics-based approaches for characterizing cellular processes occurring during the progression of viral infections, and we are exploring several areas of interest:
- Dynamic regulation of host-virus protein-protein and protein-nucleic acid interactions during the progression of an infection
- Mechanisms of sensing of pathogenic DNA within the nuclei of infected cells
- Initiation and propagation of intrinsic and innate immune responses following infection with nuclear-replicating herpesviruses
- Roles and regulation of human deacetylases (histone deacetylases - HDACs and sirtuins - SIRTs) during viral infections
- Global remodeling of cellular organelles during the progression of viral infection
- Developing targeted and large-scale proteomic tools for quantifying proteins, identifying protein interactions, determining the specificity of interactions, defining distinct protein complexes, and measuring the relative stability of interactions
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Interrogating Host Antiviral Environments Driven by Nuclear DNA Sensing: A Multiomic Perspective. Biomolecules. 2020 ;10(12). .
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Proteomic Technologies for Deciphering Local and Global Protein Interactions. Trends Biochem Sci. 2020 ;45(5):454-455. .
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TRANSPIRE: A Computational Pipeline to Elucidate Intracellular Protein Movements from Spatial Proteomics Data Sets. J Am Soc Mass Spectrom. 2020 ;31(7):1422-1439. .
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Research on the Human Proteome Reaches a Major Milestone: >90% of Predicted Human Proteins Now Credibly Detected, According to the HUPO Human Proteome Project. J Proteome Res. 2020 ;19(12):4735-4746. .
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The axonal sorting activity of pseudorabies virus Us9 protein depends on the state of neuronal maturation. PLoS Pathog. 2020 ;16(12):e1008861. .
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A high-stringency blueprint of the human proteome. Nat Commun. 2020 ;11(1):5301. .
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Mitochondria and Peroxisome Remodeling across Cytomegalovirus Infection Time Viewed through the Lens of Inter-ViSTA. Cell Rep. 2020 ;32(4):107943. .
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The DNA Sensor cGAS is Decorated by Acetylation and Phosphorylation Modifications in the Context of Immune Signaling. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2020 ;19(7):1193-1208. .
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Mechanical Stress Regulates Epithelial Tissue Integrity and Stiffness through the FGFR/Erk2 Signaling Pathway during Embryogenesis. Cell Rep. 2020 ;30(11):3875-3888.e3. .
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Temporal dynamics of protein complex formation and dissociation during human cytomegalovirus infection. Nat Commun. 2020 ;11(1):806. .
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RNA decay during gammaherpesvirus infection reduces RNA polymerase II occupancy of host promoters but spares viral promoters. PLoS Pathog. 2020 ;16(2):e1008269. .
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Early-Career Scientists Shaping the World. mSystems. 2019 ;4(3). .
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Peroxisome Plasticity at the Virus-Host Interface. Trends Microbiol. 2019 ;27(11):906-914. .
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Conservation and divergence of protein pathways in the vertebrate heart. PLoS Biol. 2019 ;17(9):e3000437. .
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Hdac4 Interactions in Huntington's Disease Viewed Through the Prism of Multiomics. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2019 ;18(8 suppl 1):S92-S113. .
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Protein interactions and consensus clustering analysis uncover insights into herpesvirus virion structure and function relationships. PLoS Biol. 2019 ;17(6):e3000316. .
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Mitochondrial Function, Metabolic Regulation, and Human Disease Viewed through the Prism of Sirtuin 4 (SIRT4) Functions. J Proteome Res. 2019 ;18(5):1929-1938. .
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Mechanical Force Induces Phosphorylation-Mediated Signaling that Underlies Tissue Response and Robustness in Xenopus Embryos. Cell Syst. 2019 ;8(3):226-241.e7. .
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YfmK is an N-lysine acetyltransferase that directly acetylates the histone-like protein HBsu in . Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 ;116(9):3752-3757. .
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Location is everything: protein translocations as a viral infection strategy. Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2019 ;48:34-43. .
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Editorial overview: Untangling proteome organization in space and time. Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2019 ;48:A1-A4. .
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Tinagl1 Suppresses Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Progression and Metastasis by Simultaneously Inhibiting Integrin/FAK and EGFR Signaling. Cancer Cell. 2019 ;35(1):64-80.e7. .
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Considerations for Identifying Endogenous Protein Complexes from Tissue via Immunoaffinity Purification and Quantitative Mass Spectrometry. Methods Mol Biol. 2019 ;1977:115-143. .
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Contribution of Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomics to Discoveries in Developmental Biology. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2019 ;1140:143-154. .
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Methods for characterizing protein acetylation during viral infection. Methods Enzymol. 2019 ;626:587-620. .
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Workflows and considerations for investigating protein interactions of viral DNA sensors. Methods Enzymol. 2019 ;625:309-338. .
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Efficient inference for time-varying behavior during learning. Adv Neural Inf Process Syst. 2018 ;31:5695-5705. .
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Interactome and Proteome Dynamics Uncover Immune Modulatory Associations of the Pathogen Sensing Factor cGAS. Cell Syst. 2018 ;7(6):627-642.e6. .
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Orchestration of protein acetylation as a toggle for cellular defense and virus replication. Nat Commun. 2018 ;9(1):4967. .
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Orchestration of protein acetylation as a toggle for cellular defense and virus replication. Nat Commun. 2018 ;9(1):4967. .
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Infection-Induced Peroxisome Biogenesis Is a Metabolic Strategy for Herpesvirus Replication. Cell Host Microbe. 2018 ;24(4):526-541.e7. .
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Initiating Events in Direct Cardiomyocyte Reprogramming. Cell Rep. 2018 ;22(7):1913-1922. .
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Protein lipoylation: an evolutionarily conserved metabolic regulator of health and disease. Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2018 ;42:76-85. .
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Formation of a TBX20-CASZ1 protein complex is protective against dilated cardiomyopathy and critical for cardiac homeostasis. PLoS Genet. 2017 ;13(9):e1007011. .
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Red Blood Cell Invasion by the Malaria Parasite Is Coordinated by the PfAP2-I Transcription Factor. Cell Host Microbe. 2017 ;21(6):731-741.e10. .
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Transcriptional Elongation of HSV Immediate Early Genes by the Super Elongation Complex Drives Lytic Infection and Reactivation from Latency. Cell Host Microbe. 2017 ;21(4):507-517.e5. .
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Exploring and Exploiting Proteome Organization during Viral Infection. J Virol. 2017 ;91(18). .
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Regulation, Function, and Detection of Protein Acetylation in Bacteria. J Bacteriol. 2017 ;199(16). .
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Stimulatory effects of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) on fibronectin matrix assembly. Matrix Biol. 2017 ;59:39-53. .
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The Host-Pathogen Ecosystem Viewed Through the Prism of Proteomics. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2017 ;16(4 suppl 1):S1-S4. .
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Human Antiviral Protein IFIX Suppresses Viral Gene Expression during Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV-1) Infection and Is Counteracted by Virus-induced Proteasomal Degradation. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2017 ;16(4 suppl 1):S200-S214. .
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Proteomics Tracing the Footsteps of Infectious Disease. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2017 ;16(4 suppl 1):S5-S14. .
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Proteomics and integrative omic approaches for understanding host-pathogen interactions and infectious diseases. Mol Syst Biol. 2017 ;13(3):922. .
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Diverse mechanisms evolved by DNA viruses to inhibit early host defenses. Crit Rev Biochem Mol Biol. 2016 ;51(6):452-481. .
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The Proteomic Profile of Deleted in Breast Cancer 1 (DBC1) Interactions Points to a Multifaceted Regulation of Gene Expression. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2016 ;15(3):791-809. .
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HIV-host interactome revealed directly from infected cells. Nat Microbiol. 2016 ;1(7):16068. .
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The Biochemical Evolution of Protein Complexes. Trends Biochem Sci. 2016 ;41(1):4-6. .
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The Cardiac TBX5 Interactome Reveals a Chromatin Remodeling Network Essential for Cardiac Septation. Dev Cell. 2016 ;36(3):262-75. .
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Two Modes of the Axonal Interferon Response Limit Alphaherpesvirus Neuroinvasion. mBio. 2016 ;7(1):e02145-15. .
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A Portrait of the Human Organelle Proteome In Space and Time during Cytomegalovirus Infection. Cell Syst. 2016 ;3(4):361-373.e6. .
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Human Sirtuin 2 Localization, Transient Interactions, and Impact on the Proteome Point to Its Role in Intracellular Trafficking. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2016 ;15(10):3107-3125. .
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Diverse mechanisms evolved by DNA viruses to inhibit early host defenses. Crit Rev Biochem Mol Biol. 2016 ;:1-30. .
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Pfh1 Is an Accessory Replicative Helicase that Interacts with the Replisome to Facilitate Fork Progression and Preserve Genome Integrity. PLoS Genet. 2016 ;12(9):e1006238. .
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HVint: A Strategy for Identifying Novel Protein-Protein Interactions in Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2016 ;15(9):2939-53. .
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Identification of RNA Binding Proteins Associated with Dengue Virus RNA in Infected Cells Reveals Temporally Distinct Host Factor Requirements. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2016 ;10(8):e0004921. .
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Intricate Roles of Mammalian Sirtuins in Defense against Viral Pathogens. J Virol. 2016 ;90(1):5-8. .
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Determining the Composition and Stability of Protein Complexes Using an Integrated Label-Free and Stable Isotope Labeling Strategy. Methods Mol Biol. 2016 ;1410:39-63. .
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Proteomic approaches to uncovering virus-host protein interactions during the progression of viral infection. Expert Rev Proteomics. 2016 ;13(3):325-40. .
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Identification of Sirtuin4 (SIRT4) Protein Interactions: Uncovering Candidate Acyl-Modified Mitochondrial Substrates and Enzymatic Regulators. Methods Mol Biol. 2016 ;1436:213-39. .
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Approaches for Studying the Subcellular Localization, Interactions, and Regulation of Histone Deacetylase 5 (HDAC5). Methods Mol Biol. 2016 ;1436:47-84. .
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Proteomics of yeast telomerase identified Cdc48-Npl4-Ufd1 and Ufd4 as regulators of Est1 and telomere length. Nat Commun. 2015 ;6:8290. .
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Blowing Off Steam: Virus Inhibition of cGAS DNA Sensing. Cell Host Microbe. 2015 ;18(3):270-2. .
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Interactions of the Antiviral Factor Interferon Gamma-Inducible Protein 16 (IFI16) Mediate Immune Signaling and Herpes Simplex Virus-1 Immunosuppression. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2015 ;14(9):2341-56. .
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DNA methyltransferase DNMT3A associates with viral proteins and impacts HSV-1 infection. Proteomics. 2015 ;15(12):1968-82. .
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The functional interactome of PYHIN immune regulators reveals IFIX is a sensor of viral DNA. Mol Syst Biol. 2015 ;11(1):787. .
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ComGA-RelA interaction and persistence in the Bacillus subtilis K-state. Mol Microbiol. 2015 ;97(3):454-71. .
Dr. Ileana Cristea has performed her graduate research at the Michael Barber Center for Mass Spectrometry, University of Manchester, U.K., under the supervision of Simon Gaskell, and at the Toxicology Research & Development Department at GlaxoSmithKline, U.K. She pursued her postdoctoral work in the mass spectrometry laboratory of Brian Chait at The Rockefeller University. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. The research of her group is at the interface between proteomics and virology. Her goal is to build an understanding of viral infection from a proteomics perspective. Broad questions that her lab is addressing are: How do viruses effectively modulate cellular pathways? How do hosts respond to viral infection? Can proteomics identify key host proteins to harness for therapeutic development? To accomplish these goals, her laboratory utilizes a multi-disciplinary approach that integrates proteomics techniques with genomics, microscopy, bioinformatics, and virology. These approaches have allowed her group to bridge developments in mass spectrometry to critical findings in biology, identifying mechanisms used by viruses to manipulate their hosts, as well as defenses hosts deploy to protect themselves from viral attack. Dr. Cristea is a member of the Executive Board of the US Human Proteome Organization (2012-present), US-HUPO Education Committee (2011-present), the American Society for Mass Spectrometry Education Committee (2008-2010), and on the Editorial Boards of Molecular & Cellular Proteomics, Proteomics,Journal of Proteome Research, andJournal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology. She also chairs the Infectious Disease initiative of the HUPO World organization. She acts as a head instructor of the summer Proteomics Course at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, having taught there since 2006. She has taught related workshops at ASMS, HUPO World Congress, US-HUPO, AOHUPO, and ABRF. She is the recipient of the Bordoli Prize from the British Mass Spectrometry Society (2001), NIDA Avant-Garde Director Pioneer Award for HIV/AIDS Research (2008), Human Frontiers Science Program Young Investigator Award (2009), Early Career Award in Mass Spectrometry from the American Chemical Society NJ Section (2011), the American Society for Mass Spectrometry Research Award (2012), and the Molecular & Cellular Proteomics Lectureship (2013).
2015
- Mallinckrodt Scholar Award, Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation
2012
- American Society for Mass Spectrometry Research Award, American Society for Mass Spectrometry
2011
- Early Career Award in Mass Spectometry, American Chemical Society