Wood Laboratory
Richard Wood, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Areas of Research
- DNA Repair Research
- DNA Polymerases Research
- Genome Stability Research
- Genetic Predisposition to Cancers Research
Wood Lab Group Photo, Summer 2022
Welcome to the Wood Laboratory at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Research in our group explores the mechanisms of genome stability and the consequences for cancer, including the biochemical mechanism of repair of cross-links between DNA strands and the DNA polymerases that help cells tolerate DNA damage.
It is important to understand the mechanisms of DNA repair in detail, because this process is a front-line defense against the mutations that cause cancer. Mammalian cells have numerous strategies for repair of DNA damage and devote many hundreds of genes and proteins to DNA repair. Moreover, the aim of many cancer therapies is to disable tumor DNA by using DNA-damaging radiation and drugs. Research in the Wood Lab employs a broad range of investigations, ranging from fundamental biochemical studies and proteomics through cellular biology, to genetically engineered mouse models having impaired pathways of repair and mutagenesis.
Recent Publications and Events
Not only was the Wood Lab the winner of the 2022 Freezer Challenge (and a delicious lab lunch) from the Department of Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis, they also won an overall "Top Hospital/Clinical Laboratory Award" in the Small Lab category. They saved 110 kWh/day! Way to go everyone, especially senior research assistant and lab manager Adele Guerin!
Mélanie Prodhomme, Ph.D., was selected as an MD Anderson Odyssey Fellow (FY2023) and co-authored a review article in Cancer Science (2022)!
Publication: Vanson S, Li Y, Wood RD, Doublié S. Probing the structure and function of polymerase θ helicase-like domain. DNA Repair (Amst). 2022 Aug;116:103358. PMID: 35753097 (review)
Postdocs Denisse Carvajal, Ph.D., and Yuzehn Li, Ph.D., presented “Characterization of a Novel DNA Polymerase Theta End-trimming Activity” and “Exploring the role of ATPase activity of Pol𝝷 in Pol𝝷-mediated end-joining,” respectively, at the DNA Damage, Mutation and Cancer, Gordon Research Conference (March 2022), and attended the meeting-associated Gordon Research Seminar. Rick Wood, Ph.D., presented “DNA End Manipulation by Pol Theta” at the same conference.
Publication: Llorens-Agost M, Ensminger M, Le HP, Gawai A, Liu J, Cruz-García A, Bhetawal S, Wood RD, Heyer WD, Löbrich M. POLθ-mediated end joining is restricted by RAD52 and BRCA2 until the onset of mitosis. Nat Cell Biol. 2021 Oct;23(10):1095-1104. PMID: 34616022
Congratulations to Sara Martin, Ph.D., who defended her dissertation and has now had her thesis work published in Cell Reports, 2021. Dr. Martin is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Tufts University in Medford, MA, where she was selected as an IRACDA (Institutional Research and Academic Career Development) scholar in May 2021.
Martin SK, Tomida J, Wood RD. Disruption of DNA polymerase ζ engages an innate immune response. Cell Reports. 2021 Feb 23;34(8):108775. PMID: 33626348
Publication: Zhan KE, Jensen RB, Wood RD*, Doublié S*. Human DNA polymerase theta harbors DNA end-trimming activity critical for DNA repair. Mol Cell. 2021 Apr 1;81(7):1534-1547.e4. (*Co-corresponding authors). PMID: 33577776. Press Release (Results from this study were originally interpreted to mean that DNA polymerase θ acts not only as a polymerase, but also as an endonuclease. Stay tuned for updates to this story!)
Rick Wood, Ph.D., is the winner of the 2021 Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society Award, which recognizes outstanding research contributions in the areas of environmental mutagenesis and genomics.
Welcome to postdoctoral fellow Mélanie Prodhomme, Ph.D., who joined us from the Centre de Recherche en Cancérologie de Lyon (CRCL).
Publication: Hwang T, Reh S, Dunbayev Y, Zhong Y, Takata Y, Shen J, McBride KM, Murnane JP, Bhak J, Lee S, Wood RD, Takata KI. Defining the mutation signatures of DNA polymerase θ in cancer genomes. NAR Cancer. 2020 Sep;2(3):zcaa017. PMID: 32885167
Publication: Carvajal-Garcia J, Cho JE, Carvajal-Garcia P, Feng W, Wood RD, Sekelsky J, Gupta GP, Roberts SA, Ramsden DA. Mechanistic basis for microhomology identification and genome scarring by polymerase theta. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Apr 14;117(15):8476-8485. PMID: 32234782
The lab welcomes postdoctoral fellow Yuzhen Li, Ph.D., who received her PhD degree from Tsinghua University in China. She joins postdoc Denisse Carvajal, Ph.D. from St. Louis University who joined the lab in 2018.
The Wood lab continues to collaborate with former lab colleagues Kei-ichi Takata, who now leads a laboratory at the Institute for Basic Science, Center for Genomic Integrity, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in Ulsan, S. Korea, and Junya Tomida, Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Rick Wood, Ph.D. was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2018). Congratulations, Rick! Rick has also been elected to the Royal Societ (1997), EMBO (1998) and as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2013). He is also a member of The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST).
Publication: Feng W, Simpson DA, Carvajal-Garcia J, Price BA, Kumar RJ, Mose LE, Wood RD, Rashid N, Purvis JE, Parker JS, Ramsden DA, Gupta GP. Genetic determinants of cellular addiction to DNA polymerase theta. Nat Commun. 2019 Sep 19;10(1):4286. PMID: 31537809
Publication: Martin SK, Wood RD. DNA polymerase ζ in DNA replication and repair. Nucleic Acids Res. 2019 Sep 19;47(16):8348-8361. PMID: 31410467
Publication: Liu X, Jiang Y, Takata KI, Nowak B, Liu C, Wood RD, Hittelman WN, Plunkett W. CNDAC-induced DNA double strand breaks cause aberrant mitosis prior to cell death. Mol Cancer Ther. Mol Cancer Ther. 2019 Dec;18(12):2283-2295. PMID: 31501277
Publication: Feng W, Simpson DA, Carvajal-Garcia J, Price BA, Kumar RJ, Mose LE, Wood RD, Rashid N, Purvis JE, Parker JS, Ramsden DA, Gupta GP. Genetic determinants of cellular addiction to DNA polymerase theta. Nat Commun. 2019 Sep 19;10(1):4286. PMID: 31537809
We are pleased to have research support from the National Institutes of Health. Past funding sources have included NIH, DOD, EMBO, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, the Human Frontiers Science Program, and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.