Research

Research in Molecular and Cellular Oncology is funded by multiple federal and private foundation grants. 33 peer-reviewed papers were published in the high-impact journals such as the Cell/Nature/Science (CNS) series in the past 3 years (after 2017).

1. Hu Q, Ye Y, Chan LC, Li Y, Liang K, Lin A, Egranov SD, Zhang Y, Xia W, Gong J, Pan Y, Chattterjee SS, Yao J, Evans KW, Nguyen TK, Park PK, Liu J, Coarfa C, Donepudi SR, Putluri V, Putluri N, Hawke DH, Marks JR, Gunaratne PH, Caudle AS, Sahin AA, Hortobagyi GN, Meric-Bernstam M, Chen L, Yu D, Hung MC, Curran MA, Han L, Lin C, Yang L. Oncogenic LncRNA downregulates cancer cell antigen presentation and intrinsic tumor suppression. Nature Immunology 20(7):835-851, 2019.
2. Park MK, Yao Y, Xia W, Setijono SR, Kim JH, Vila I, Chiu HH, Wu Y, Billalabeitia E, Lee MG, Kalb RG, Hung MC, Pandolfi PP, Song SJ, Song MS. PTEN self-regulates through USP11 via the PI3K-FOXO pathway to stabilize tumor suppression. Nature Comm 10(1):636, 2019.
3. Li Y, Hu Q, Li C, Liang K, Xiang Y, Hsiao H, Nguyen TK, Park PK, Egranov SD, Ambati CR, Putluri N, Hawke DH, Han L, Hung MC, Danesh FR, Yang L, Lin C, PTEN-induced Partial epithelial-mesenchymal transition drives diabetic kidney Disease. J. Clinic. Invest. 129(3):1129-1151, 2019
4. Li H, Li CW, Li X, Ding Q, Guo L, Liu C, Lai CC, Hsu JM, Dong Q, Xia W, Hsu JL, Yamaguchi H, Du Y, Lai YJ, Koller PB, Ye Q, Hung MC. c-MET inhibitors induce immune resistance through PD-L1 stabilization in hepatocellular carcinoma. Gastroenterology 156(6):1849-1861, 2019.
5. Hu Q, Li , Wang SY, Li Y, Wen B, Zhang YY, Liang K, Yao J, Ye YQ, Hsiao H, Nguyen TK, Park PK, Egranov SD, Hawke DH, Marks JR, Han L, Hung MC, Zhang B, Lin C, Yang L. LncRNAs-directed PTEN enzymatic switch governs epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Cell Res 29(4):286-304, 2019.
6. Yang Y, Hsu JM, Sun L, Li CW, Chan LC, Wei Y, Xia W, Hou J, Hsu JL, Hung MC. Palmitoylation stabilizes PD-L1 to promote breast tumor growth. Cell Res 29(1):83-86, 2019.
7. Lee W, Ko SY, Mohamed MS, Kenny HA, Lengyel E, Naora H. Neutrophils facilitate ovarian cancer pre-metastatic niche formation in the omentum. J Exp Med 7;216(1):176-194, 2019.
8. Liu Y, Qin S, Chen T-Y, Lei M, Dhar SS, Ho JC, Dong A, Loppnau P, Li Y, Lee MG‡, & Min J‡ A novel binding mode of histone H4 by MLL3/4 provides insights into a trans-histone regulatory mechanism of H3K4 methylation ‡Co-corresponding author. Nature Comm. 3;10(1):36, 2019.
9. Wilkinson AE, Diep J, Dai S, Liu S, Ooi YS, Song D, Li TM, Horton JR, Zhang X, Liu C, Trivedi DV, Ruppel KM, Vilches-Moure JG, Casey KM, Mak J, Cowan T, Elias JE, Nagamine CM, Spudich JA, Cheng X*, Carette JE*, Gozani O*. SETD3 is an actin histidine methyltransferase that prevents primary dystocia. *Co-corresponding authors. Nature 565(7739):372-376, 2019.
10. Yang Y, Hsu JM, Sun L, Chan LC, Li CW, Hsu JL, Wei Y, Xia W, Hou J, Qiu Y, Hung MC. Palmitoylation stabilizes PD-L1 to promote breast tumor growth. Cell Res 29(1):83-86, 2019. 
11. Lee PC, Fang YF, Yamaguchi H, Wang WJ, Chen TC, Hong X, Ke B, Xia X, Wei Y, Zha Z, Wang Y, Kuo HP, Wang CW, Tu CY, Chen CH, Huang WC, Chiang SF, Nie L, Hou J, Chen CT, Huo L, Yang WH, Deng R, Nakai K, Hsu YH, Chang SS, Chiu TJ, Tang J, Chang SJ, Zhang R, Wang L, Fang B, Chen T, Wong KK, Hsu JL, Hung MC. Targeting PKCδ as a therapeutic strategy against the heterogeneity of EGFR inhibitor resistance in EGFR-mutant lung cancer. Cancer Cell 34(6):954-969, 2018. 
12. Cha JH, Yang WH, Xia W, Wei Y, Chan LC, Lim SO, Li CW, Kim T, Chang SS, Lee HH, Hsu JL, Wang HL, Kuo CW, Chang WC, Hadad S, Purdie CA, McCoy AM, Cai S, Tu Y, Litton JK, Mittendorf EA, Moulder SL, Symmans WF, Thompson AM, Piwnica-Worms H, Chen CH, Khoo KH, Hung MC. Metformin promotes antitumor immunity via endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation of PD-L1. Mol Cell 16;71(4):606-620, 2018.
13. Yang Y, Li CW, Chan LC, Wei Y, Hsu J, Xia W, Chan JH, Hou J, Hsu JL, Sun L, Hung MC. Exosomal PD-L1 harbors active defense function to suppress T cell killing and promote tumor growth of breast cancer cells. Cell Res 28(8):862-864, 2018.
14. Dhar SS, Zhao D, Lin T, Gu B, Pal K, Wu SJ, Alam H, Lv J, Yun K, Gopalakrishnan V, Flores ER, Northcott PA, Rajaram V, Li W, Shilatifard A, Sillitoe RV, *Chen K, *Lee MG. MLL4 Is required to maintain broad H3K4me3 peaks and super-enhancers at tumor suppressor genes. Mol Cell 70(5):825-841, 2018. *Co-corresponding authors.
15. Wang D, Horton JR, Zheng Y, Blumenthal RM, Zhang X, Cheng X. Role for first zinc finger of WT1 in DNA sequence specificity: Denys-Drash syndrome-associated WT1 mutant in ZF1 enhances affinity for a subset of WT1 binding sites. Nucleic Acids Res 46(8):3864-3877, 2018. 
16. Wang YN, Lee HH, Chou CK, Yang WH, Wei Y, Chen CT, Yao J, Hsu JL, Zhu C, Ying H, Ye Y, Wang WJ, Lim SO, Xia W, Ko HW, Liu X, Liu CG, Wu X, Wang H, Li D, Prakash LR, Katz MH, Kang Y, Kim M, Fleming JB, Fogelman D, Javle M, Maitra A, Hung MC. Angiogenin/ribonuclease 5 is an EGFR ligand and a serum biomarker for erlotinib sensitivity in pancreatic cancer. Cancer Cell 33(4): 752-769, 2018.
17. Patel A, Yang P, Tinkham M, Pradhan M, Sun MA, Wang Y, Hoang D, Wolf G, Horon JR, Zhang X, Macfarlan T, Cheng X. DNA Conformation  Induces Adaptable Binding by Tandem Zinc Finger Proteins. Cell 173:1-13, 2018 
18. Guo HF, Tsai CL, Terajima M, Tan X, Banerjee P, Miller MD, Liu X, Yu J, Byemerwa J, Alvarado S, Kaoud TS, Dalby KN, Bota-Rabassedas N, Chen Y, Yamauchi M, *Tainer JA, *Phillips GN Jr, *Kurie JM. Pro-metastatic collagen lysyl hydroxylase dimer assemblies stabilized by Fe2+-binding. Nature Comm 9(1):512, 2018. *Co-corresponding authors.
19. Wan L, Xu K, Wei Y, Zhang J, Han T, Fry C, Zhang Z, Wang YV, Huang L, Yuan M, Xia W, Chang WC, Huang WC, Liu CL, Chang YC, Liu J, Wu Y, Jin VX, Dai X, Guo J, Liu J, Jiang S, Li J, Asara JM, Brown M, Hung MC*, Wei W*. Phosphorylation of EZH2 by AMPK suppresses PRC methyltransferase activity and oncogenic function. Mol Cell 69(2):279-291, 2018. *Co-corresponding authors.
20. Li CW, Lim SO, Chung EM, Kim YS, Park AH, Yao J, Cha JH, Xia W, Chan LC, Kim T, Chang SS, Lee HH, Chou CK, Liu YL, Yeh HC, Perillo EP, Dunn AK, Kuo CW, Khoo KH, Hsu JL, Wu Y, Hsu JM, Yamaguchi H, Huang TH, Sahin AA, Hortobagyi GN, Yoo SS, Hung MC. Eradication of triple-negative breast cancer cells by targeting glycosylated PD-L1. Cancer Cell 33(2):187-201, 2018. 
21. Hsu JM, Xia W, Hsu YH, Chan LC, Yu WH, Cha JH, Chen CT, Liao HW, Kuo CW, Khoo KH, Hsu JL, Li CW, Lim SO, Chang SS, Chen YC, Ren GX, Hung MC. STT3-dependent PD-L1. STT3-dependent PD-L1 accumulation on cancer stem cells promotes immune evasion.  Nature Comm 9(1):1908, 2018.
22. Wang YN, Lee HH, Chou CK, Yang WH, Wei Y, Chen CT, Yao J, Hsu JL, Zhu C, Ying H, Ye Y, Wang WJ, Lim SO, Xia W, Ko HW, Liu X, Liu CG, Wu X, Wang H, Li D, Prakash LR, Katz MH, Kang Y, Kim M, Fleming JB, Fogelman D, Javle M, Maitra A, Hung MC. Angiogenin/ribonuclease 5 is an EGFR ligand and a serum biomarker for erlotinib sensitivity in pancreatic cancer. Cancer Cell 33(4):752-769, 2018.
23. Wan L, Xu K, Wei Y, Zhang J, Han T, Fry C, Zhang Z, Wang YV, Huang L, Yuan M, Xia W, Chang WC, Huang WC, Liu CL, Chang YC, Liu J, Wu Y, Jin VX, Dai X, Guo J, Liu J, Jiang S, Li J, Asara JM, Brown M, Hung MC*, Wei W*. Phosphorylation of EZH2 by AMPK suppresses PRC methyltransferase activity and oncogenic function. Mol Cell 69(2):279-291, 2018. *co-corresponding authors. 
24. Wang S, Liang K, Hu Q, Li P, Song J, Yang Y, Yao J, Mangala LS, Li C, Yang W, Park PK, Hawke DH, Zhou J, Zhou Y, Xia W, Hung MC, Marks JR, Gallick GE, Lopez-Berestein G, Flores ER, Sood AK, Huang S, Yu D, Yang L, Lin C. JAK2-binding long noncoding RNA promotes breast cancer brain metastasis. J Clin Invest 27(12):4498-4515, 2017. 
25. Li CW, Lim SO, Chung EM, Kim YS, Park AH, Yao J, Cha JH, Xia W, Chan LC, Kim T, Chang SS, Lee HH, Chou CK, Liu YL, Yeh HC, Perillo EP, Dunn AK, Kuo CW, Khoo KH, Hsu JL, Wu Y, Hsu JM, Yamaguchi H, Huang TH, Sahin AA, Hortobagyi GN, Yoo SS, Hung MC. Eradication of triple-negative breast cancer cells by targeting glycosylated PD-L1. Cancer Cell 33(2):187-201, 2017. 
26. Li C, Wang S, Xing Z, Lin A, Liang K, Song J, Hu Q, Yao J, Chen Z, Park P, Hawke DH, Zhou J, Zhou Y, Zhang S, Liang H, Hung MC, Gallick G, Han L, Lin C, Yang L. A ROR1-HER3-Lnc RNA signaling axis modulates the Hippo-Yap pathway to regulate bone metastasis. Nature Cell Biol 19(2):106-119, 2017. (PMC5336186) 
27. Hashimoto H, Wang D, Horton JR, Zhang Z, Croces VG, Cheng X. Structural basis for the versatile and methylation-dependent binding of CTCF to DNA. Mol Cell 66(5):711-720, 2017. (PMC5542067)
28. Wang S, Liang K, Hu Q, Li P, Song J, Yang Y, Yao J, Mangala LS, Li C, Yang W, Park PK, Hawke DH, Zhou J, Zhou Y, Xia W, Hung MC, Marks JR, Gallick GE, Lopez-Berestein G, Flores ER, Sood AK, Huang S, Yu D, Yang L, Lin C. JAK2-binding long noncoding RNA promotes breast cancer brain metastasis. J Clin Invest 127(12):4498-4515, 2017. (PMID:29130936) 
29. Tsutakawa SE, Thompson MJ, Arvai AS, Neil AJ, Shaw SJ, Algasaier SI, Kim JC, Finger LD, Jardine E, Gotham VJB, Sarker AH, Her MZ, Rashid F, Hamdan SM, Mirkin SM, Grasby JA, Tainer JA. Phosphate steering by Flap Endonuclease 1 promotes 5'-flap specificity and incision to prevent genome instability. Nature Commun 8:15855, 2017. (PMC5490271)
30. Hong S, Wang D, Horton JR, Zhang X, Speck SH, Blumenthal RM, Cheng X. Methyl-dependent and spatial-specific DNA recognition by the orthologous transcription factors human AP-1 and Epstein-Barr virus Zta. Nucleic Acids Res 45(5):2503-2515, 2017. (PMC5389525)
31. Wang D, Hashimoto H, Zhang X, Barwick BG, Lonial S, Boise LH, Vertino PM, Cheng X. MAX is an epigenetic sensor of 5-carboxylcytosine and is altered in multiple myeloma. Nucleic Acids Res 45(5):2396-2407, 2017. (PMC5389568)
32. Ju HQ, Ying HY, Tian T, Ling J, Fu J, Lu Y, Wu M, Yang L, Achreja A, Chen G, Zhuang Z, Wang H, Nagrath D, Hung MC, DePinho RA, Huang P, Xu RH, Chiao PJ. Mutant Kras- and p16-regulated NOX4 activation overcomes metabolic checkpoints in the development of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Nature Comm 24;8:14437, 2017. (PMC5333128)
33. Lin A, Hu Q, Li C, Xing Z, Ma G, Wang C, Li J, Ye Y, Yao J, Liang K, Wang S, Park PK, Marks JR, Zhou Y, Zhou J, Hung MC, Liang H, Hu Z, Shen H, Hawke DH, Han L, Zhou Y, Lin C, Yang L. The LINK-A lncRNA interacts with PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 to hyperactivate AKT and confer resistance to AKT inhibitors. Nature Cell Biology 19(3):238-251, 2017. (PMC5332298)