Luc R. Desnoyers, PhD
Genentech Inc.
Pharmacodynamic Biomarker Oncology/Oncology Biomarker Development
1 DNA Way
South San Francisco
California 94133, USA
Tel: (650) 225-6230
Email: desnoyer@gene.com

Present Position

• Scientist 
  Department of Pharmacodynamic Biomarker Oncology at Genentech, Inc.

Societies

• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• American Association for Cancer Research
• American Association for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Awards

• First Prize Annual Meeting of the Department of Obstetric-Gynecology, University of Montreal (1990)
• Second Prize Annual Meeting of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal (1991).
• First Prize Annual Meeting of the Department of Obstetric-Gynecology, University of Montreal (1990).

Research Themes

• My laboratory has been involved in a number of projects aiming at the identification of new activities for novel and known, secreted and transmembrane proteins.  My group identified several factors involved in the differentiation and proliferation of chondrocytes and osteoblasts.  In addition to playing critical roles in cartilage and bone development some of these factors are also involved in cancer progression.  We developed and characterized neutralizing antibodies targeting oncogenic factors such receptor tyrosine kinases, their ligands and their associate regulatory accessory proteins such as co-receptors, matricellular proteins, and specific binding proteins.
  My laboratory is now involved in the clinical development of therapeutics against cancer. We study the mechanism of action of potential novel drugs, identify pharmacodynamic biomarkers and develop assays to measure them. We design original pharmacodynamic biomarker strategies, participate in the development of clinical protocols and monitor their implementation in the clinic. 

Patents

• Inventor on 1506 filed patent applications
• Inventor on 116 issued patents

Selected publications

• Desnoyers LR, Pai R,Ferrando RE, Hotzel K, Le T, Ross J, Carano R, D'Soue-za A, Qing j, Mohtashemi I, Ashkenazi A, French DM
  Targeting FGF19 inhibits tumor growth in colon cancer xenograft and FGF19 transgenic hepatocellular carcinoma models.
  Oncogene 2008 27, 85-97.
• Lin BC, Wang M, Blackmore C, Desnoyers LR.
  Liver-specific activities of FGF19 require Klotho beta.
  J Biol Chem. 2007 Sep 14;282(37):27277-84.
• Desnoyers LR, Pai R, Ferrando RE, Hotzel K, Le T, Ross J, Carano R, D'Souza A, Qing J, Mohtashemi I, Ashkenazi A, French DM
  Targeting FGF19 inhibits tumor growth in colon cancer xenograft and FGF19 transgenic hepatocellular carcinoma models.
  Oncogene. 2007 Jun 25; [Epub ahead of print]
• Desnoyers L.
  Structural basis and therapeutic implication of the interaction of CCN proteins with glycoconjugates.
  Curr Pharm Des. 2004;10(31):3913-28.
• French DM, Kaul RJ, D'Souza AL, Crowley CW, Bao M, Frantz GD, Filvaroff EH, Desnoyers L.
  WISP-1 is an osteoblastic regulator expressed during skeletal development and fracture repair.
  Am J Pathol. 2004 Sep;165(3):855-67.
• Desnoyers L, Simonette RA, Vandlen RL, Fendly BM
  Novel non-isotopic method for the localization of receptors in tissue sections.
  J Histochem Cytochem. 2001 Dec;49(12):1509-18.
• Desnoyers L, Arnott D, Pennica D.
  WISP-1 binds to decorin and biglycan.
  J Biol Chem. 2001 Dec 14;276(50):47599-607.
• Desnoyers L, Seabra MC.
  Single prenyl-binding site on protein prenyl transferases.
  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998 Oct 13;95(21):12266-70.
• Anant JS, Desnoyers L, Machius M, Demeler B, Hansen JC, Westover KD, Deisenhofer J, Seabra MC
  Mechanism of Rab geranylgeranylation: formation of the catalytic ternary complex.
  Biochemistry. 1998 Sep 8;37(36):12559-68.
• Desnoyers L, Anant JS, Seabra MC
  Geranylgeranylation of Rab proteins.
  Biochem Soc Trans. 1996 Aug;24(3):699-703. Review. No abstract available.
• Desnoyers L, Therien I, Manjunath P
  Characterization of the major proteins of bovine seminal fluid by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.
  Mol Reprod Dev. 1994 Apr;37(4):425-35.
• Desnoyers L, Manjunath P.
  Major proteins of bovine seminal fluid bind to insulin-like growth factor-II.
  J Biol Chem. 1994 Feb 25;269(8):5776-80.
• Manjunath P, Chandonnet L, Leblond E, Desnoyers L.
  Major proteins of bovine seminal vesicles bind to spermatozoa.
  Biol Reprod. 1994 Jan;50(1):27-37. Erratum in: Biol Reprod 1994 Apr;50(4):977.
• Desnoyers L, Manjunath P
  Interaction of a novel class of phospholipid-binding proteins of bovine seminal fluid with different affinity matrices.
  Arch Biochem Biophys. 1993 Sep;305(2):341-9.
• Leblond E, Desnoyers L, Manjunath P
  Phosphorylcholine-binding proteins from the seminal fluids of different species share antigenic determinants with the major proteins of bovine seminal plasma.
  Mol Reprod Dev. 1993 Apr;34(4):443-9.
• Desnoyers L, Manjunath P.
  Major proteins of bovine seminal plasma exhibit novel interactions with phospholipid.
  J Biol Chem. 1992 May 15;267(14):10149-55.