Nancy Carrasco, MD
Professor AdjunctCards
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Professor Adjunct
Biography
Nancy Carrasco received her M.D. and Masters in Biochemistry degrees from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and did her postdoctoral training at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology. She joined the Department of Molecular Pharmacology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine as a faculty member in 1987 and the Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology at the Yale School of Medicine in 2011.
She is the recipient of the Pew Award in the Biomedical Sciences, the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation Award, the Maria Sibylla Merian Award (Germany), the Merck Prize from the European Thyroid Association (Poland), the Marshall S. Horwitz Faculty Award (New York), and the Light of Life Award (New York), among others. She delivered the Rose Pitt-Rivers Lecture (Scotland) and the American Thyroid Association Plenary Lecture (Canada), and was named Coleman Fellow in the Life Sciences (Israel), among many other honors. Her research on the Na+/I- symporter (NIS), the key plasma membrane protein that mediates active iodide transport in the thyroid, lactating breast, and other tissues, ranges from biochemical, biophysical, and physiological investigations to translational studies. She has served as president of the Society of Latin American Biophysicists. Dr. Carrasco was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2015.
Appointments
Cellular & Molecular Physiology
Professor AdjunctPrimary
Other Departments & Organizations
Education & Training
- Fellow
- Roche Institute of Molecular Biology (1986)
- MS
- National Autonomous University of Mexico(UNAM), Biochemistry (1981)
- Fellow
- UNAM (1981)
- MD
- National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) (1980)
Research
Overview
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Research at a Glance
Publications Timeline
Research Interests
Amino Acid Substitution
Thyroid Neoplasms
Hypothyroidism
Kinetics
Anions
Publications
2016
Sustained ERK inhibition maximizes responses of BrafV600E thyroid cancers to radioiodine
Nagarajah J, Le M, Knauf JA, Ferrandino G, Montero-Conde C, Pillarsetty N, Bolaender A, Irwin C, Krishnamoorthy GP, Saqcena M, Larson SM, Ho AL, Seshan V, Ishii N, Carrasco N, Rosen N, Weber WA, Fagin JA. Sustained ERK inhibition maximizes responses of BrafV600E thyroid cancers to radioiodine. Journal Of Clinical Investigation 2016, 126: 4119-4124. PMID: 27669459, PMCID: PMC5096947, DOI: 10.1172/jci89067.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsThyroid cancerThyroid differentiation genesBRAF-mutant thyroid cancerIodide uptakeCancer cellsERK inhibitionERK signalingMEK inhibitor selumetinibThyroid cellsThyroid cancer cellsRAI therapyMaximal responseRadioiodide therapyCancerThyroid hormone biosynthesisOncogenic BRAFIodide accumulationPotent inhibitionDifferentiation genesTherapyMAPK signalingInhibitionIodide transportSignalingERKNa+ coordination at the Na2 site of the Na+/I− symporter
Ferrandino G, Nicola JP, Sánchez YE, Echeverria I, Liu Y, Amzel LM, Carrasco N. Na+ coordination at the Na2 site of the Na+/I− symporter. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 2016, 113: e5379-e5388. PMID: 27562170, PMCID: PMC5027462, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1607231113.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsNa2 siteActive I(-) transportThyroid hormone biosynthesisSodium/iodide symporterSLC5 familyGreat medical relevanceSame foldPlasma membraneHormone biosynthesisDependent transportersSimilar functionsMedical relevanceTransportersMechanistic insightsWhole cellsBinding sitesResiduesSymporterI- transportS353Side chainsT354SitesBiosynthesisIons bind
2014
Physiological sodium concentrations enhance the iodide affinity of the Na+/I− symporter
Nicola JP, Carrasco N, Mario Amzel L. Physiological sodium concentrations enhance the iodide affinity of the Na+/I− symporter. Nature Communications 2014, 5: 3948. PMID: 24888603, PMCID: PMC4248369, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4948.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsMeSH Keywords and Concepts
2013
Asn441 plays a key role in folding and function of the Na+/I– symporter (NIS)
Li W, Nicola JP, Amzel LM, Carrasco N. Asn441 plays a key role in folding and function of the Na+/I– symporter (NIS). The FASEB Journal 2013, 27: 3229-3238. PMID: 23650190, PMCID: PMC3714583, DOI: 10.1096/fj.13-229138.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsMeSH KeywordsAmino Acid SequenceAnimalsAsparagineBinding SitesBiological TransportCell LineCell MembraneChlorocebus aethiopsCOS CellsHumansImmunoblottingIodineMicroscopy, ConfocalModels, MolecularMolecular Sequence DataMutationProtein FoldingProtein Structure, SecondaryProtein Structure, TertiarySequence Homology, Amino AcidSymportersTransport VesiclesThe iodide-transport-defect-causing mutation R124H: a δ-amino group at position 124 is critical for maturation and trafficking of the Na+/I− symporter
Paroder V, Nicola JP, Ginter CS, Carrasco N. The iodide-transport-defect-causing mutation R124H: a δ-amino group at position 124 is critical for maturation and trafficking of the Na+/I− symporter. Journal Of Cell Science 2013, 126: 3305-3313. PMID: 23690546, PMCID: PMC3730242, DOI: 10.1242/jcs.120246.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsPlasma membranePlasma membrane traffickingPosition 124Key structural roleCOS-7 cellsSecond intracellular loopAmino acid substitutionsMembrane traffickingTransporter maturationNIS mutantsIntracellular loopEndoplasmic reticulumStructural roleMembrane vesiclesThyroid hormone T3I- transportAcid substitutionsHomology modelCell surfaceTransport defectProtein markersLocal foldingSymporterMutantsVibrio parahaemolyticus
2011
Mechanism of anion selectivity and stoichiometry of the Na+/I- symporter (NIS)
Paroder-Belenitsky M, Maestas MJ, Dohán O, Nicola JP, Reyna-Neyra A, Follenzi A, Dadachova E, Eskandari S, Amzel LM, Carrasco N. Mechanism of anion selectivity and stoichiometry of the Na+/I- symporter (NIS). Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 2011, 108: 17933-17938. PMID: 22011571, PMCID: PMC3207644, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1108278108.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetric
2009
Kcne2 deletion uncovers its crucial role in thyroid hormone biosynthesis
Roepke TK, King EC, Reyna-Neyra A, Paroder M, Purtell K, Koba W, Fine E, Lerner DJ, Carrasco N, Abbott GW. Kcne2 deletion uncovers its crucial role in thyroid hormone biosynthesis. Nature Medicine 2009, 15: 1186-1194. PMID: 19767733, PMCID: PMC2790327, DOI: 10.1038/nm.2029.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and Concepts
2007
The Na+/I− symporter (NIS) mediates electroneutral active transport of the environmental pollutant perchlorate
Dohán O, Portulano C, Basquin C, Reyna-Neyra A, Amzel LM, Carrasco N. The Na+/I− symporter (NIS) mediates electroneutral active transport of the environmental pollutant perchlorate. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 2007, 104: 20250-20255. PMID: 18077370, PMCID: PMC2154417, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0707207104.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsI- uptakeExposure of newbornsDifferent stoichiometriesIodine-containing thyroid hormonesPublic health impactStoichiometryMaternal milkLactating breastPerchlorateGreater health risksThyroid hormonesEnvironmental pollutant perchlorateDifferent substratesCNS developmentSuch exposureU.S. populationProper CNS developmentCompetitive inhibitorHealth impactsNewbornsKey plasma membrane proteinThyroidBreastHealth risksAnionsAmino Acid Residues in Transmembrane Segment IX of the Na+/I– Symporter Play a Role in Its Na+ Dependence and Are Critical for Transport Activity*
De la Vieja A, Reed MD, Ginter CS, Carrasco N. Amino Acid Residues in Transmembrane Segment IX of the Na+/I– Symporter Play a Role in Its Na+ Dependence and Are Critical for Transport Activity*. Journal Of Biological Chemistry 2007, 282: 25290-25298. PMID: 17606623, DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m700147200.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsMembrane/cytosol interfaceActive I(-) transportAmino acid residuesPlasma membrane glycoproteinsBinding/translocationProtein familySegment IXNIS mutationPosition 354Asp-369NIS functionAcid residuesTransport activityMembrane glycoproteinsAmino acidsFunctional significanceResiduesSymporterI- transportKey roleSide chainsTranslocationTransportersThrHelix
1999
Escape from the acute Wolff-Chaikoff effect is associated with a decrease in thyroid sodium/iodide symporter messenger ribonucleic acid and protein.
Eng P, Cardona G, Fang S, Previti M, Alex S, Carrasco N, Chin W, Braverman L. Escape from the acute Wolff-Chaikoff effect is associated with a decrease in thyroid sodium/iodide symporter messenger ribonucleic acid and protein. Endocrinology 1999, 140: 3404-10. PMID: 10433193, DOI: 10.1210/endo.140.8.6893.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsAcute Wolff-Chaikoff effectThyroid peroxidase mRNANIS mRNAIodide administrationWolff-Chaikoff effectThyroid peroxidaseIodide transportTSH receptorNIS proteinIodide ingestionIntrathyroidal iodine contentIodine-induced hypothyroidismSerum TSH levelsOrganification of iodideAcute experimentsIodide-induced changesMessenger ribonucleic acidPlasma iodide levelsTSH levelsHashimoto's thyroiditisChronic experimentsSerum T4Plasma iodide concentrationsSodium/iodide symporterHormone measurements
Academic Achievements and Community Involvement
activity Biophysical Society
Professional OrganizationsMemberDetailsactivity The American Thyroid Association
Professional OrganizationsMemberDetailsactivity American Association for the Advancement of Science
Professional OrganizationsMemberDetailsactivity Endocrine Society
Professional OrganizationsMemberDetailshonor The American Thyroid Association Sidney H. Ingbar Distinguished Lectureship Award
National AwardDetails09/22/2016United States
Links & Media
News
- January 09, 2020
Cellular and Molecular Physiology Annual Retreat 2019
- December 06, 2018
Cellular and Molecular Physiology Annual Retreat 2018
- June 22, 2018
Nine Faculty Members Appointed to Endowed Positions
- October 02, 2017
Cellular and Molecular Physiology Annual Retreat 2017
Get In Touch
Contacts
Locations
Carrasco Lab
Lab
Sterling Hall of Medicine, B-Wing
333 Cedar Street, Ste BE-60
New Haven, CT 06510