Research
The Goals of Molecular & Cellular Oncology (MCO):
- Build MCO as a basic/ translational science “hub” at MD Anderson to advance fundamental cancer science that brings innovation to cancer patient care
- Translate new scientific breakthroughs to clinical trials by closely collaborating with clinical colleagues
- Bring cancer science forward globally at new frontiers
Shared Resources
Functional Genomics enables researchers to understand the complicated interactions between genotype and phenotype at a genome-wide scale. ShRNA, Open Reading Frame (ORF) and CRISPR libraries are powerful tools for these types of genetic screens, which have been widely used in the field of cancer research for identifying oncogenes, tumor suppressors, metastasis regulators, drug resistance genes and new therapeutic targets. The Functional Genomics Core aims to promote our basic research and to enhance translational research and drug discovery at MD Anderson.
Defining & Targeting Oncogenic Molecular & Cellular Pathways: Our four foundational themes
Departmental Plan to Advance MD Anderson Research
Overarching Goals and Planned Contributions:
- Define and target oncogenic molecular and cellular pathways, contributing to discovery for unmet medical needs
- Provide strong recruitment, mentorship, and vibrant research environment
- Advance and bridge basic, translational and clinical research efforts for clinical successes through intra-and inter-departmental collaborations
- Contribute to MD Anderson research platforms and team science by supporting integrated oncogenic structure-function-biology
- Augment funding and technology through vigorous grant applications, partnership with industry, and program building
- Enhance leadership in education: Improve trainee quality and numbers, with better outreach and mentorship
Education and Training
All MCO faculty participate in at least one graduate program in the MD Anderson Cancer Center UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.
The following are examples of MCO faculty members' service to the Cancer Biology Program:
- Dr. Dihua Yu is a Cancer Biology Program executive committee member
- Dr. Honami Naora is co-director of the Cancer Biology Program
- Dr. Min Gyu Lee is a Cancer Biology Program membership committee member
- Dr. Chunru Lin served on MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School Academic Standard Committee as an alternate representative for the Cancer Biology Program
MCO faculty continue to host a plethora of students from summer programs as well as MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School tutorial students and give lectures in the core curriculum.
The following are MCO faculty members' service to UTHealth and the institution:
- Dr. Honami Naora, MD Anderson Research Education & Training Internal Advisory Board, Member, 9/2022-present; MD Anderson Graduate Education Committee, Member 9/2023-present
- Dr. Min Sup Song, MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School Curriculum Committee, Member, 10/2019−present
- Dr. Liuqing Yang, MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School Student Scholarship Committee, Member, 9/2020−present
- Dr. Haoqiang Ying, MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School Student Scholarship Committee, Member, 9/2019−present; co-director (with Dr. Jian Hu of Cancer Biology), Basic and Translational Cancer Biology course, MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School, 1/2020−present
Awards and Honors
MCO faculty and trainees have received prestigious awards and honors.
FY24
Trainees
The Cancer Biology Program, GSBS retreat was held on Nov 4, 2023, and MCO trainees were competitive and awarded in the following competitions:
- Oral Presentation Pre-candidacy, 2nd place, Pengju Gong (mentor: Dr. Chunru Lin)
- Oral Presentation Post-candidacy, 2nd Place, Shao-Ping Yang (mentor: Dr. Dihua Yu) & 3rd place Lisa Huang (mentor: Dr. Liuqing Yang)
- Post Post-candidacy, 3rd place, Yiming Cai (Mentor: Dr. Haoqiang Ying)
FY23
Faculty
Dr. Liuqing Yang one of five finalists, 2023 Julie and Ben Rogers Award for Excellence in the area of Research
Dr. Laura Beretta is a recipient of the Ashbel Smith Professorship.
Both Drs. Chunru Lin and Min Sup Song reached 10 year Milestone service anniversary in FY23.
Trainees
Yimin Cai (mentor: Dr. Haoqiang Ying): GSBS 2022-2023 R.W. Butcher Student Achievement Scholarship & 3rd place in Flash talk competition in 2023 Cancer Biology Spring Symposium
Hao-Nien Chen (mentor: Dr. Dihua Yu): GSBS Immunology Program Travel Award for attending the 2023 AACR annual meeting in Orlando, FL. & 2023-2024 Rosalie B. Hite Fellowship
Lisa Huang (mentors: Dr. Chunru Lin and Dr. Liuqing Yang): One of the four winners of the GSBS Presidents’ Research Scholarship for 2023 ($5,000 scholarships)
Shao-Ping (Emily) Yang (mentor: Dr. Dihua Yu): GSBS/MDACC Student Travel Award for attending the 2023 AACR annual meeting in Orlando, FL & an awardee of CPRIT Graduate Scholar Award, The MD Anderson CPRIT Research Training Program (RP210028),
Dr. Zhou Joe Jiang (mentor: Dr. Chunru Lin): a 3rd winner for oral presentation in the translation category in the FY23 Trainee Research Day.
FY22
Faculty
Selection for the Wall of Science by CSO
Dr. Dihua Yu, Cancer Cell
Dr. Min-Sup Song, Cell Metabolism
Dr. Chunru Lin is one of six recipients of the FY22 Faculty Scholar Award, click to see presentation.
Trainees
Dr. Mei-Kuang Chen, (Mentor: Dr. Dihua Yu) selected for 2022 AACR-Doreen J. Putrah Cancer Research Foundation Scholar-in-Training Award.
Dr. Zhou Jiang (Mentor: Dr. Dihua Yu) is one of six recipients of the 2022 Harold C and Mary L Dailey Endowed Fellowship ($2000)
Dr. Arseniy Yuzhalin, Odyssey Postdoc Fellow (mentor: Dr. Dihua Yu), PI: FY2021 DoD CDMRP BCRP Breakthrough Award BC210402 -Funding Level 1 “Targeting the Glia-Induced CDK5 Expression That Enforces Antigenic Escape of Brain Metastasis”, impact score 1.8, recommended for funding, $729,000 total cost for 36 months.
Dr. Yongkun Wei, assistant professor in Dr. Haoqiang Ying's group, is the recipient of a 2022-2023 Career Enhancement Program (CEP) award from The MD Anderson Cancer Center SPORE in GI Cancer. 06/01/2022-05/31/2022, $50,000
Dr. Suet Ying Kwan, instructor in Dr. Laura Beretta’s group, obtained HCC SPORE CEP Award. 09/01/2021-08/31/2021, $50,000.
AACR interview request: Yuan Zhang (presenter, postdoctoral), Jinyang Wang, Yi Xiao, Xiangliang Yuan, Ping Li, Yimin Duan, Victoria L Seewaldt, Dihua Yu. Title: Boosting immune surveillance by low-dose PI3K inhibitor facilitates early intervention of breast cancer. Interviewed by Alexis Hyams of Oncology Learning Network and the interview was posted in MD Anderson Cancer Center News on April 29, 2021.
https://www.oncnet.com/interviews/boosting-immune-surveillance-low-dose-pi3ki-facilitates-early-intervention-breast-cancer
FY21
Faculty
Dr. Liuqing Yang
FY20 Faculty Scholar Award (one of six recipients)
2019 Sanofi-Cell Research Outstanding Research Article Award
MD Anderson representative at the Next Step in the Ono Award (Feb 3, 2020)
Dr. Chunru Lin
Faculty Honoree of the 2020 President’s Recognition of Faculty Excellence in Research Excellence.
Dr. Dihua Yu
30 years of service award, MDACC, 2019
MD Anderson Distinguished Educator, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, November 2019
Selection for the Wall of Science by CSO
Drs. John Tainer and Chi-Lin Tsai, Molecular Cell
Drs. John Tainer and Zamal Ahmed. Sciences Advances
Drs. Chunru Lin and Liuqing Yang, Science
Trainees
Two MCO trainees obtained endowed fellowship in FY21 cycle:
Arseniy Yuzhalin, PhD (mentor: Dr. Dihua Yu) awarded by the Odyssey Program Fellowship (September 1, 2019-August 31, 2022) for his proposed project entitled “Inhibition of CDK5 as a potential therapeutic strategy against breast cancer brain metastasis” & received 2020 Postdoctoral Travel Award from Office of Postdoctoral Affairs & Development (OPAD), MD Anderson Cancer Center, November 2019.
Dr. Ching-Fei Li (mentor: Dr. Paul J Chiao) awarded by the Odyssey Program Fellowship (September 1, 2020-August 31, 2023) for her proposed project entitled
“Investigation of the role of BDKRB1 in PDAC progression and tumor microenvironment”.
Ruth Barros De Paula (mentor: Dr. John A. Tainer) wins one of the Grad Student elevator speech.
Dr. WonJae Lee (mentor: Dr. Honami Naora) awarded Diane Denson Tobola Fellowship in Ovarian Cancer Research Recognition of Research Excellence.
FY19
Faculty
Dr. Dihua Yu, Professor & Chair ad interim
President of Metastasis Research Society
Steering Committee of the Tumor Microenvironment (TME) Working Group 2018-2020 of AACR, specifically as the Representative of the International Metastasis Research Society (IMRS)
2018 Cell and Bioscience Service Award on 2/22/2019, a prize given by Cell & Bioscience journal which is published by BioMed Central (BMC). The prize is awarded to acknowledge general contributions to the field of cell biology.
Editor-in-Chief, American Journal of Cancer Research
Dr. Liuqing Yang, Assistant Professor has been recognized for this year’s President’s Recognition of Faculty Excellence Award for my efforts in advancing cancer research and treatment. The ceremony held August 8, 2019 to honor MD Anderson employees distinguished for research excellence.
Dr. Liuqing Yang receives 2019 AACR NextGen Stars Award, March, 2019
Trainees
Ms. Mei-Kuang Chen, obtained Jesse B. Heath, Jr. Family Legacy Award 2019 & T32 Training Grant in Cancer Biology. Mentor: Drs. Mien-Chie Hung & Dihua Yu
Mr. Jingkun Qu, a graduate student-non-UTHSCH (Mentor: Dr. Dihua Yu), received a 2019 AACR-Breast Cancer Research Foundation Scholar-in-Training Award on 2/15/2019 from AACR in the amount of $1,500. Mr. Qu won the 3rd Place at the Oral Presentation contest of The 31th SCBA-Texas Chapter Annual Symposium, Houston, TX, on May 18, 2019.
Ms. Jessica Nye (Mentor: Dr. John Tainer), a CPRIT summer undergraduate student from University of Texas Austin was a recipient of hop award for her summer research in August 2019.
Dr. Zhou Jiang (Research co-mentors: Drs. Dihua Yu and Mien-Chie Hung), The 2019 AACR-AstraZeneca Immuno-oncology Research Fellowship $120,000 grant with a term of 9/1/2019-8/31/2021 (two years).
Dr. Arseniy Yuzhalin received 2019 Odyssey Fellowship Award, 3-years. (Mentor: Dr. Dihua Yu).
Manish Kumar received CCE postdoctoral scholarship. Mentor: Dr. Min Gyu Lee
Dr. Heng-Huan Lee, 2019 Odyssey Outstanding Publication Awards (Basic Research), supported by The Ernst W. Bertner Memorial Fund), March 2019. Mentor: Drs. Mien-Chie Hung & Dihua Yu. He has been offered a tenure track assistant professor position in Houston Methodist Cancer Center.
Clinton Yam, MD, graduated from the MS program GSBS in June 2019 (Mentor: Dr. Hung); a recipient of the 2019 Waun Ki Hong Award for Achievement in Basic Science Research. He will become a faculty in the Department of Breast Medical Oncology once his Visa is approved in 2020 (Dr. Yam is a citizen of Singapore).
NIH R01 supplement grant (3R01CA208213-03S1) to support Dr. Akosua Badu-Nkansah’s training (Mentor: Dr. Dihua Yu)
Won Jae Lee (Mentor: Dr. Honami Naora) received a Career Development Award, HERA Ovarian Cancer Foundation in November 2019. Project title: Targeting metastasis-promoting fibrosis in ovarian cancer. This study evaluates whether anti-inflammatory drugs can be repurposed to reduce omentum fibrosis and thereby inhibit omentum metastasis of ovarian cancer.
Select Publications
FY24
Syed A, Filandr F, Patterson-Fortin J, Bacolla A, Ravindranathan R, Zhou J, McDonald DT, Albuhluli ME, Verway-Cohen A, Newman JA, Tsai MS, Jones DE, Schriemer DC, D'Andrea AD, Tainer JA. Novobiocin blocks nucleic acid binding to Polθ and inhibits stimulation of its ATPase activity. Nucleic Acids Res. Sep 4:gkad727, 2023. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkad727.
Lv X, Lu X, Cao J, Luo Q, Ding Y, Peng F, Pataer A, Lu D, Han D, Malmberg E, Chan DW, Wang X, Savage SR, Mao S, Yu J, Peng F, Yan L, Meng H, Maneix L, Han Y, Chen Y, Yao W, Chang EC, Catic A, Lin X, Miles G, Huang P, Sun Z, Burt B, Wang H, Wang J, Yao QC, Zhang B, Roth JA, O'Malley BW, Ellis MJ, Rimawi MF, Ying H*, Chen X*. Modulation of the proteostasis network promotes tumor resistance to oncogenic KRAS inhibitors. Science Sep 8;381(6662):eabn4180, 2023. doi: 10.1126/science.abn4180. Epub 2023 Sep 8. PMID: 37676964. *co-corresponding
FY23
Chu YY, Chen MK, Wei Y, Lee HH, Xia W, Wang YN, Yam C, Hsu JL, Wang HL, Chang WC, Yamaguchi H, Jiang Z, Liu C, Li CF, Nie L, Chan LC, Gao Y, Wang SC, Liu J, Westin SN, Lee S, Sood AK, Yang L, Hortobagyi GN, Yu D*, Hung MC*. Targeting the ALK-CDK9-Tyr19 kinase cascade sensitizes ovarian and breast tumors to PARP inhibition via destabilization of the P-TEFb complex. Nature Cancer Oct;3(10):1211-1227, 2022. (Epub online Oct 17, 2022) doi: 10.1038/s43018-022-00438-2. PMC9586872. *Co-corresponding authors. MD Anderson news release. Selected for CSO FY23Q1 Wall of Science
Zhang Y, Sun C, Li Y, Qin J, Amancherla K, Jing Y, Hu Q, Liang K, Zhang Z, Ye Y, Huang LA, Nguyen TK, Egranov SD, Zhao Z, Wu A, Xi Y, Yao J, Hung MC, Calin GA, Cheng J, Lim B, Lehmann LH, Salem JE, Johnson DB, Curran MA, Yu D, Han L, Darabi R, Yang L, Moslehi JJ, Lin C. Hormonal therapies up-regulate MANF and overcome female susceptibility to immune checkpoint inhibitor myocarditis. Sci Transl Med, Nov 2;14(669):eabo1981, 2022. PMID: 36322628. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.abo1981.PMC9809130
Sun C, Ye Y, Tan Z, Liu Y, Li Y, Hu W, Liang K, Egranov SD, Huang LA, Zhang Z, Zhang Y, Yao J, Nguyen TK, Zhao Z, Wu A, Marks JR, Caudle AS, Sahin AA, Gao J, Gammon ST, Piwnica-Worms D, Hu J, Chiao PJ, Yu D, Hung MC, Curran MA, Calin GA, Ying H, Han L, Lin C, Yang L. Tumor-associated nonmyelinating Schwann cell-expressed PVT1 promotes pancreatic cancer kynurenine pathway and tumor immune exclusion. Sci Adv. Feb 3;9(5):eadd6995, 2023. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.add6995. Epub 2023 Feb 1. PMC9891701 MD Anderson News Release
Bralić A, Tehseen M, Sobhy MA, Tsai CL, Alhudhali L, Yi G, Yu J, Yan C, Ivanov I, Tsutakawa SE, Tainer JA*, Hamdan SM*. A scanning-to-incision switch in TFIIH-XPG induced by DNA damage licenses nucleotide excision repair. Nucleic Acids Res. Feb 22;51(3):1019-1033, 2023. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkac1095. PMC9943652 * Co-corresponding author. NAR Breakthrough Article.
Ko SY, Lee W, Weigert M, Jonasch E, Lengyel E, Naora H. The glycoprotein CD147 defines miRNA-enriched extracellular vesicles that derive from cancer cells. J Extracell Vesicles Apr;12(4):e12318, 2023. doi: 10.1002/jev2.12318. PMC10042814, MD Anderson News Release
*Chen Z, Ho IL, Soeung M, Yen EY, Liu J, Yan L, Rose JL, Srinivasan S, Jiang S, Edward Chang Q, Feng N, Gay JP, Wang Q, Wang J, Lorenzi PL, Veillon LJ, Wei B, Weinstein JN, Deem AK, Gao S, Genovese G, Viale A, Yao W, Lyssiotis CA, Marszalek JR, *Draetta GF, *Ying H. Ether phospholipids are required for mitochondrial reactive oxygen species homeostasis. Nat Commun. Apr 17;14(1):2194, 2023. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-37924-9. PMC10110566. *Co-corresponding authors
Zhang Y, Zhao Z, Huang LA, Liu Y, Yao J, Sun C, Li Y, Zhang Z, Ye Y, Yuan F, Nguyen TK, Garlapati NR, Wu A, Egranov SD, Caudle AS, Sahin AA, Lim B, Beretta L, Calin GA, Yu D, Hung MC, Curran MA, Rezvani K, Gan B, Tan Z, Han L, Lin C, Yang L. Molecular mechanisms of snoRNA-IL-15 crosstalk in adipocyte lipolysis and NK cell rejuvenation. Cell Metab. 2023 Jun 12:S1550-4131(23)00186-9, 2023. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2023.05.009. PMID37329887.
Longo MA, Roy S, Chen Y, Tomaszowski KH, Arvai AS, Pepper JT, Boisvert RA, Kunnimalaiyaan S, Keshvani C, Schild D, Bacolla A, *Williams GJ, *Tainer JA, *Schlacher K. RAD51C-XRCC3 structure and cancer patient mutations define DNA replication roles. Nat Commun. Jul 24;14(1):4445, 2023. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-40096-1. *Co-corresponding authors.
FY22
Zhang L, Qu J, Qi Y, Duan Y, Huang YW, Zhou Z, Li P, Yao J, Huang B, Zhang S, Yu D. EZH2 engages TGFβ signaling to promote breast cancer bone metastasis via integrin β1-FAK activation. Nat Commun. May 10;13(1):2543, 2022. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30105-0. MDA News Room
Yuan X, Duan Y, Xiao Y, Sun K, Qi Y, Zhang Y, Ahmed Z, Moiani D, Yao J, Li H, Zhang L, Yuzhalin AE, Li P, Zhang C, Badu-Nkansah A, Saito Y, Liu X, Kuo WL, Ying H, Sun SC, Chang JC, Tainer JA, Yu D. Vitamin E Enhances Cancer Immunotherapy by Reinvigorating Dendritic Cells via Targeting Checkpoint SHP1. Cancer Discov 2022 Apr 14;candisc.0900.2021.doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-21-0900. Online ahead of print. MDA News Room
Napoli M‡, Wu S‡, Gore B, Abbas H, Lee K, Checker R, Dhar SS, Rajapakshe K, Tan AC, Lee MG*, Coarfa C*, and Flores ER*. ΔNp63 regulates a common landscape of enhancer associated genes in non-small cell lung cancer. ‡Co-first author, *Co-corresponding authors. Nature Communications Feb 1;13(1):614, 2022. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-28202-1
Zhao X#, Wei Y#, Chu YY, Li Y, Hsu JM, Jiang Z, Liu C, Hsu JL, Chang WC, Yang R, Chan LC, Qu J, Zhang S, Ying H, Yu D*, Hung MC*. Phosphorylation and stabilization of PD-L1 by CK2 suppresses dendritic cell function. Cancer Res. April 6, 2022 (Epub onhine). doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-21-2300. #Equal Contribution; *Co-corresponding authors.
Park MK*, Zhang L*, Min KW, Cho JH, Yeh CC, Moon H, Aguila DH, Mun H, Ko S, Lee JW, Jathar S, Smith AB, Yao Y, Giang NT, Vu HH, Yan VC, Bridges MC, Kourtidis A, Muller F, Chang JH, Song SJ, Nakagawa S, Hirose T, Yoon JH#, Song MS#. NEAT1 Is essential for metabolic changes that promote breast cancer growth and metastasis. Cell Metab Dec 7;33(12):2380-2397.e9. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2021.11.011 *Equal contribution. #Co-corresponding authors. MDA News Room
Li HZ*, Xiao Y*, Li Q, Yao J, Yuan XL, Zhang Y, Yin XD, Saito Y, Fan HH, Li P, Halpin A, Gibbons DL, Yagita H, Zhao ZM, Pang D, Ren GS, Yee C, Lee JJ, Yu D. The allergy mediator histamine confers immunotherapy resistance in cancer patients via activation of the macrophage histamine receptor 1. Cancer
Cell S1535-6108(21)00602-4. doi:10.1016/j.ccell.2021.11.002. (Nov 18, Epub online), 2021. *Equal contribution. MDA News Room
Kwan SY, Jiao J, Joon A, Wei P, Petty LE, Below JE, Daniel CR, Wu X, Zhang J, Jenq RR, Futreal PA, Hawk ET, McCormick JB, Fisher-Hoch SP, Beretta L. Gut Microbiome Features Associated with Liver Fibrosis in Hispanics, a Population at High Risk for Fatty Liver Disease. Hepatology (Oct 11, Online ahead of print), 2021. doi: 10.1002/hep.32197.
FY21
Li Y#, Zhang Y#, Hu Q, Egranov SD, Xing Z, Zhang Z, Liang K, Ye Y, Pan Y, Chatterjee SS, Mistretta B, Nguyen TK, Hawke DH, Gunaratne PH, Hung MC, Han L, Yang L*, Lin C*. Functional significance of gain-of-function H19 lncRNA in skeletal muscle differentiation and anti-obesity effects. Genome Med. Aug 28;13(1):137, 2021. doi: 10.1186/s13073-021-00937-4. #Equal contribution; *Co-corresponding authors
Ye Z, Xu S, Shi Y, Bacolla A, Syed A, Moiani D, Tsai CL, Shen Q, Peng G, Leonard PG, Jones DE, Wang B, Tainer JA*, Zamal A*. GRB2 enforces homology-directed repair initiation by MRE11. Sci Adv Aug 4; 7(32): eaber9254, 2021. DOI:10.1126/sciadv.abe9254.
Li Y#, TanZ#, Zhang Y#, Zhang Z, Hu Q, Liang K, Yao J, Ye Y, Li YC, Li C, Liao L, Xu J, Xing Z, Pan Y, Chatterjee SS, Nguyen TK, Hsiao H, Egranov SD, Putluri N, Coarfa C, Hawke DH, Gunaratne PH, Tsi KL, Han L, Hung MC, Calin GA, Namour F, Guéant JL, Muntau AC, Blau N, Sutton VR, Schiff M, Feillet F*, Lin C*, Zhang S*, Yang L*. A noncoding RNA modulator potentiates phenylalanine metabolism in mice. Science Aug 6;373(6555):662-673, 2021. doi: 10.1126/science.aba4991. #Equal contribution; *Co-corresponding authors.
Hambarde S, Tsia CL, Pandiat RK, Bacolla A, Maitra A, Charaka V, Hunt CR, Kumar R, Limobo L, Le Meur R, Chazin WJ, Tsutakawa S, Russell P, Schlacher K, Panditat TJ*, Tainer JA*. EXO5-DNA structure and BLM interactions direct DNA resection critical for ATR-dependent replication restart, Molecular Cell Jun 24:S1097-2765(21)00420-2, 2021. doi: 10.1016/j.molcel.2021.05.027. *Co-corresponding authors.
Yan L, Tu B, Yao J, Gong J, Carugo A, Bristow CA, Wang Q, Zhu C, Dai B, Kang Y, Han L, Feng N, Jin Y, Fleming J, Heffernan TP, Yao W, Ying H. Targeting glucose metabolism sensitizes pancreatic cancer to MEK inhibition. Cancer Res. Jun 11;canres.3792.2020, 2021. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-20-3792. Online ahead of print.
*Yang R†, Sun L†, Li CF, Wang YH, Yao J, Li H, Yan M, Chang WC, Hsu JM, Cha JH, Hsu JL, Chou CW, Sun X, Deng Y, Chou CK, Yu D, *Hung MC. Galectin-9 interacts with PD-1 and TIM-3 to regulate T cell death and is a target for cancer immunotherapy †Equal contribution *co-corresponding authors. Galectin-9 interacts with PD-1 and TIM-3 to regulate T cell death and is a target for cancer immunotherapy †Equal contribution *co-corresponding authors. Nature Comm Feb 5; 12:832, 2021. PMC7864927. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21099-2
Hammel M, Rashid I, Sverzhinsky A, Pourfarjam Y, Tsai MS, Ellenberger T, Pascal JM, *Kim IK, *Tainer JA, *Tomkinson AE. An atypical BRCT–BRCT interaction with the XRCC1 scaffold protein compacts human DNA Ligase IIIα within a flexible DNA repair complex. Nucleic Acids Res. Jan 11;49(1):306-321, 2021 (Dec 16, 2020 online ahead of print). PMC7797052. doi:10.1093/nar/gkaa1188. **Co-corresponding authors
FY20
Houl JH, Ye Z, Brosey CA, Balapiti-Modarage LPF, Namjoshi S, Bacolla A, Laverty D, Walker BL, Pourfarjam Y, Warden LS, Babu Chinnam N, Moiani D, Stegeman RA, Chen MK, Hung MC, Nagel ZD, Ellenberger T, Kim IK, Jones DE, Ahmed Z, Tainer JA. Selective small molecule PARG inhibitor causes replication fork stalling and cancer cell death. Nature Communications Dec 11;10(1):5654, 2019. *T32 trainee. PMC6906431. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-13508-4
Tsai CL, Tripp P, Sivabalasarma S, Zhang C, Rodriguez-Franco M, Wipfler RL, Chaudhury P, Banerjee A, Beeby M, Whitaker RJ, #Tainer JA, #Albers SV. The periplasmic FlaG/F complex structure and its essential role for archaellar swimming motility. Nature Microbiology Jan;5(1):216-225. 2020. #Co-corresponding authors. PMC6952060. doi: 10.1038/s41564-019-0622-3
#Alam H, #Tang M, Maitituoheti M, Dhar SS, Kumar M, Han CY, Ambati CR, Amin SB, Gu B, Chen TY, Lin YH, Chen J, Muller FL, Putluri N, Flores
ER, DeMayo FJ, Baseler L, *Rai K, *Lee MG . KMT2D deficiency impairs super-enhancers to confer a glycolytic vulnerability in lung cancer. Cancer
Cell April 13; 37:599‒617 (Epub Apr 2) e7, 2020. #equal contribution. *co-corresponding authors. PMC7178078. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2020.03.005
#*Xu D, #Wang Z, Xia Y, Shao F, Xia W, Wei Y, Li X, Qian X, Lee JH, Du L, Zheng Y, Lv G, Leu JS, Wang H, Xing D, Liang T, *Hung MC, *Lu Z.
The gluconeogenic enzyme PCK1phosphorylates INSIG1/2 for lipogenesis. Nature Apr;580(7804):530-535, 2020. #equal contribution and *co-corresponding authors. Dr. Daqian Xu was an Odyssey Fellow in MCO and has been recruited as a tenure-track faculty by another institution. PMID:
32322062.doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2183-2
Zhang L, Yao J, Wei Y, Zou ZF, Li P, Qu JK, Badu-Nkansah A, Yuan XL, Huang YW, Fukumura K, Mao X, Chang WC, Saunus J, Lakhani S, Huse J,
Hung MC, Yu D. Blocking immunosuppressive neutrophils deters pY696-EZH2-driven brain metastases. Science Translational Medicine May 27;
12(545):eaaz5387, 2020. PMID32461334. doi:10.1126/scitranslmed.aaz5387
Tsutakawa SE, Sarker AH, Ng C, Arvai AS, Shin DS, Shih B, Jiang S, Thwin AC, Tsai MS, Willcox A, Her MZ, Trego KS, Raetz AG, Rosenberg D,
Bacolla A, Hammel M, Griffith JD, Cooper PK, Tainer JA. Human XPG nuclease structure, assembly and activities with insights for neurodegeneration and cancer from pathogenic mutations. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Jun 23;117(25)14127-14138, 2020. PMC7321962. doi:10.1073/pnas.1921311117
Hou J, Zhao R, Xia W, Chang CW, You Y, Hsu JM, Nie L, Chen Y, Wang YC, Liu C, Wang WJ, Wu Y, Ke B, Hsu JH, Huang K, Ye Z, Yang Y, Xia X,
Li Y, Li CW, Shao B, Tainer JA, Hung MC. PD-L1-mediated Gasdermin C expression switches apoptosis to pyroptosis in cancer cells and facilitates tumor necrosis. Nature Cell Biology, Oct;22(10):1264-1275 (Sept 14 Epub online) 2020. doi: 10.1038/s41556-020-0575-z. PMC7653546
Liu CX†, Zha Z†, Zhou C†, Chen Y, Xia W, Wang YN, Lee HH, Yin Y, Yan M. Chang CW, Qiu Y, Li H, Li CW, Hsu JM, Hsu JL, Wang SC, Ren
N*, Hung MC*. Ribonuclease 7-driven activation of ROS1 is a new potential therapeutic target in hepatocellular carcinoma. J of Hepatology Apr;74(4):907-918, (Oct 5, Epub online, 2020), 2021. PMCID:7979498. † Equal contribution; *Co-corresponding authors
Thapar R, Wang JL, Hammel M, Ye R, Liang, K, Sun C, Hnizda A, Liang S, Maw SS, Lee L, Villarreal H, Forrester I, Fang S, Tsai MS, Blundell TL, Davis AJ, Lin C, Lees-Miller S, Strick TR, and Tainer, JA. Mechanism of efficient double-strand break repair by a long non-coding RNA. Nucleic Acids Res, Nov
4;48(19):10953-10972 (Oct 12 Epub online), 2020. PMC7641761, doi: 10.1093/nar/gkaa784
Zhang Y†, Li Y†, Hu Q, Xing Z, Zhang Z, Hung L, Wu J, Liang K, Nguyen TK, Egranov SD, Sun C, Zhao Z, Hawke DH, Li J, Sun D, Kim JJ, Zhang
P, Cheng J, Farida A, Hung MC, Han L, Darabi R, Lin C*, Yang L*. LncRNA H19 alleviates muscular dystrophy through stabilizing dystrophin. Nature Cell Biology Nov;22(11):1332-1345, 2020. PMID33106653. doi:10.1038/s41556-020-00595-5 (Oct 26 Epub online), 2020. *Co-corresponding authors. † Equal contribution.
Bacolla A, Sengupta S, Ye Z, Yang C, Mitra J, De-Paula RB, Hegde ML, Ahmed Z, Mort M, Cooper DN, Mitra S, Tainer JA. Heritable pattern of oxidized DNA base repair coincides with pre-targeting of repair complexes to open chromatin. Nucleic Acids Res. Jan 11;49(1):221-243, 2021(Dec 9, 2020 online ahead of print). PMC7797072. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkaa1120
FY19
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