COHORT 1

Peiwen Chen, PhD

Project

Mechanism and Therapeutic Potential of PTEN-Regulated MDSCc in Glioblastoma

Topic Area

Brain Cancer

Highlighted Publications

Xuan W, Hsu W-H, Khan F, Dunterman M, Pang L, Wainwright DA, Ahmed AU, Heimberger AB, Lesniak MS, Chen P. Circadian Regulator CLOCK Recruits Immunosuppression in Gliobastoma . Cancer Immunology Research. 2022; 10(6):770-784.

Khan F, Pang L, Dunterman M, Lesniak MS, Heimberger AB, Chen P. Macrophages and Microglia in Glioblastoma: Hetergeneity, Plasticity, and Therapy . Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2023. 133(1):e163446. *CSVCC Supported*

Pang L, Dunterman M, Xuan W, Gonzalez A, Lin Y, Hsu W, Khan F, Hagan R, Muller W, Heimberger A, Chen P. Circadian Regulator CLOCK Promotes Tumor Angiogenesis in Glioblastoma . Cell Reports. 2023; 42(2): 112127. *CSVCC Supported*

Khan F, Lin Y, Ali H, Pang L, Dunterman M, Hsu WH, Frenis K, Rowe RG, Wainwright D, McCortney K, Billingham L, Miska J, Horbinski C, Lesniak M, Chen P. Lactate Dehydrogenase A Regulates Tumor-Macrophage Symbiosis to Promote Glioblastoma Progression . Nature Communications. 15, 1987 (2024). *CSVCC Supported*

Dalnim Cho, PhD

Project

Trajectories of Adjustment in Young Adult Cancer Patient-Caregiver Dyads: A Measurement Burst Study to Examine Short- and Long-Term Change and Variability

Topic Area

Pediatric, Adolescent, and Young Adult Cancers

Highlighted Publications

Cho D, Kim S, Durrani S, Liao Z, Milbury K. Associations Between Spirituality, Mindfulness, and Psychological Symptoms Among Advanced Lung Cancer Patients and Their Spousal Caregivers . Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 2021;61(5):898-908.e1.

Cho D, Milbury K, Liao Y, Pettaway CA, Gregg JR, Li Y, McNeill LH. Study Protocol: One Plus One Can Be Greater Than Two—Ecological Momentary Assessment for Black Prostate Cancer Survivors and Partners . PLoS One. 2021;16(8):e0255614.

Kroll JL, Kim S, Cho D, Weathers S-P, Chen AB, Smith G, Bruera E, Milbury K. Financial Distress and Its Associated Burden in Couples Coping with an Advanced Cancer . Support Care Cancer. 2022;30(5): 4485-95.

Cho D, Roth M, Peterson SK, Jennings K, Kim S, Weathers SP, Ahmed S, Livingston JA, Barcenas C, You YN, Milbury K. Associations Between Stress, Health Behaviors, and Quality of Life in Young Couples During the Transition to Survivorship: Protocol for a Measurement Burst Study . JMIR Res Protoc 2024;13:e53307. *CSVCC Supported*

Abby Green, MD

Project

Mutagenic Deaminase Activity in Cancer

Topic Area

Blood Cancers

Highlighted Publications

DeWeerd RA, Nemeth E, Petrik N, Chen C, Hyrien O, Szuts D, Green AM . Prospectively-defined patterns of APOBEC3A mutagenesis are prevalent in human cancers . Cell Reports. 2022; 38(12):110555.

Mathias B, O’Leary D, Saucier N, Ahmad F, White L, Russell L, Shinawi M, Smith M, Abraham R, Cooper M, Kitcharoensakkul M, Green A, Bednarski J. MYSM1 Attenuates DNA Damage Signals Triggered by Physiologic and Genotoxic DNA Breaks . J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2024 Apr;153(4):1113-1124.e7. Epub 2023 Dec 6. **CSVCC Supported**

Pfeiffer T, Lockowitz C, Shenoy S, Mavers M, Hayashi R, Bednarski J, Green A. Letermovir as Cytomegalovirus Prophylaxis in Children Undergoing Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation . Bone Marrow Transplant (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41409-024-02315-1

Fingerman D, O’Leary D, Hansen A, Tran T, Harris B, DeWeerd R, Hayer K, Fan J, Chen E, Tennakoon M, Meroni A, Szeto J, Devenport J, LaVigne D, Weitzman M, Shalem O, Bednarski J, Vindigni A, Zhao X, Green A. The SMC5/6 Complex Prevents Genotoxicity Upon APOBEC3A-Mediated Replication Stress . EMBO J. 2024 Jun 17. doi: 10.1038/s44318-024-00137-x. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38886582. **CSVCC Supported**

Presentations

DeWeerd RA, Nemeth E, Szuts D, Green AM. Aberrant activity of APOEC3A cytidine deaminase causes genome-wide indels and altered DNA methylation. Oral presentation, Gordon Research Conference – DNA Repair, Mutation, and Cancer. Ventura, CA. March 2022.

Berkley Gryder, PhD

Project

Therapeutically Targeting Superclusters at Genes Driving Childhood Sarcoma

Topic Area

Pediatric, Adolescent, and Young Adult Cancers

Hae Lin Jang, PhD

Project

Developing Novel Immunotherapy to Suppress Cancer Metastasis and Recurrence in Bone

Topic Area

Metastatic Cancers

Highlighted Publications

Ghosh S, Sinha M, Samanta R, Sadhasivam S, Bhattacharyya A, Nandy A, Saini S, Tandon N, Singh H, Gupta S, Chauhan A, Aavula KK, Varghese SS, Shi P, Ghosh S, Garg MK, Saha T, Padhye A, Gosh S*, Jang HL*, Sengupta S*. A potent antibiotic-loaded bone-cement implant against staphylococcal bone infections . Nature Biomedical Eng. 2022;6:1180-95.

Saha T, Dash C, Jayabalan R, Khiste S, Kulkarni A, Kurmi K, Mondal J, Majumder P, Bardia A, Jang HL , Sengupta S. Intercellular nanotubes mediate mitochondrial trafficking between cancer and immune cells . Nat. Nanotechnol. 2022;17(1):98-106. *CSVCC Supported*

Lee V, Lee T, Ghosh A, Saha T, Bais M, Bharani K, Chag M, Parikh K, Bhatt P, Namgung B, Venkataramanan G, Agrawal A, Sonaje K, Mavely L, Sengupta S , Mashelkar R, Jang HL. An Architecturally Rational Hemostat for Rapid Stopping of Massive Bleeding on Anticoagulation Therapy . Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2024 Jan 30;121(5):e2316170121. Epub 2024 Jan 2022. **CSVCC Supported**

Saha T, Fojtu M, Nagar A, Thurakkal L, Srinivasan B, Mukherjee M, Sibiyon A, Aggarwal H, Samuel A, Dash C, Jang HL, Sengupta S. Antibody Nanoparticle Conjugate-Based Targeted Immunotherapy for Non-Small Lung Cancer . Sci Adv. 2024 Jun 14;10(24):eadi2046. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adi2046. Epub 2024 Jun 14. PMID: 38875335; PMCID: PMC11177938. **CSVCC Supported**

Robert G. Rowe, MD, PhD

Project

Defining Leukemia Stem Cell in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Topic Area

Blood Cancers

Highlighted Publications

Wang D, Tanaka-Yano M, Meader E, Kinney MA, Morris V, Lummertz da Rocha E, Liu N, Orkin SH, North TE, Daley GQ, Rowe RG. Developmental Maturation of the Hematopoietic System Controlled by a Lin28b-let-7-Cbx2 Axis . Cell Reports. 2022;39(1):110587.

Morris V, Wang D, Li Z, Marion W, Hughes T, Sousa P, Harada T, Sui SH, Naumenko S, Kalfon J, Sensharma P, Falchetti M, da Silva RV, Candelli T, Schnieder P, Margaritis T, Holstege FCP, Pikman Y, Harris M, Stam RW, Orkin SH, Koehler AN, Shalek AK, North TE, Pimkin M, Daley GQ, da Rocha EL, Rowe RG. Hypoxic, Glycolytic Metabolism is a Vulnerability of B-Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Initiating Cells . Cell Reports. 2022;39(4):110752. **CSVCC Supported**

Chen CC, Silberman R, Ma D, Perry J, Khalid D, Pikman Y, Amon A, Hemann M, Rowe RG. Inherent Genome Instability Underlies Trisomy 21-Associated Myeloid Malignancies . Leukemia. 2024 38(3):521-529.

Li Z, Fierstein S, Tanaka-Yano M, Frenis K, Chen CC, Wang D, Falchetti M, Cote P, Curran C, Lu K, Liu T, Orkin S, Li H, Lummertz da Rocha E, Hu S, Zhu Q, Rowe RG. The Epigenetic State of the Cell of Origin Defines Mechanisms of Leukemogenesis . Leukemia. 2024 Oct 1. Epub ahead of print. **CSVCC Supported**

Nilay Sethi, MD, PhD

Project

Determining the Molecular Basis and Therapeutic Potential of Hyperactive Stem Cell Programs in Colorectal Cancer

Topic Area

Colorectal Cancer

Highlighted Publications

Liang X, Duronio GN, Yang Y, Bala P, Hebbar P, Spisak S, Singh H, Zhang Y, Xie Y, Cejas P, Long HW, Bass AJ, Sethi NS. An Enhancer-Driven Stem Cell-Like Program Mediated by SOX9 Blocks Intestinal Differentiation in Colorectal Cancer. Gastroenterology. 2022; 162(1):209-22. **CSVCC Supported**

Duronio GN, Liang X, Hebbar P, Islam M, Spisak S, Sethi NS. Truncating SOX9 Alterations are Heterozygous Null Alleles in Genome Stable Colorectal Cancer. Gastro Hep Advances. 2022; 1(5):709-13. **CSVCC Supported**

Bala P, Rennhack J, Aitymbayev D, Morris C, Moyer S, Duronio G, Doan P, Li Z, Liang X, Hornick J, Yurgelun M, Hahn W, Sethi N. Aberrant Cell State Plasticity Mediated by Developmental Reprogramming Precedes Colorectal Cancer Initiation . Science Advances. 2023; 9(13):eadf0927. *CSVCC Supported*

Spisak S, Chen D, Likasitwatanakul P, Doan P, Li Z, Bala P, Vizkeleti L, Tisza V, De Silva P, Giannakis M, Wolpin B, Qi J, Sethi N. Identifying Regulators of Aberrant Stem Cell and Differentiation Activity in Colorectal Cancer Using a Dual Endogenous Reporter System . Nature Communications. 2024 12;15(1):2230. **CSVCC Supported**

Presentations

From Gene-Environment Interactions to Therapeutic Vulnerabilities in Gastric Cancer / Think Tank on Advancing Gastroesophageal Research, Boston, MA 2023

Aberrant Cell State Plasticity Mediates Colorectal Cancer Initiation / Invited Speaker                                       AACR Virtual Special Conference: Colorectal Cancer,Portland, OR 2023

Patents

Compositions and Methods for Treating and/or Identifying an Agent for Treating Intestinal Cancer

Min Xue, PhD

Project

Multicyclic Peptide-Based Protein-Protein Interaction Modulators for Inhibiting Oncogenic MYC Activities

Topic Area

Brain Cancer

Highlighted Publications

Guo Z, Cheng H, Li Z, Shao S, Sarkar P, Wang S, Chaudhuri R, Perkins N, Ji F, Wei W, Xue M. Single-Cell Profiling of Fatty Acid Uptake Using Surface-Immobilized Dendrimers . Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2021; 143(29):11191-11198.

Wang S, Li Z, Aispuro D, Guevara N, Van Valkenburgh J, Chen B, Zhou X, McCarroll M, Ji F, Cong X, Sarkar P, Chaudhuri R, Guo Z, Perkins N, Shao S, Sello J, Chen K, Xue M. Hydroxyl-Rich Hydrophilic Endocytosis-Promoting Peptide with No Positive Charge . Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2022; 144(44):20288-20297. **CSVCC Supported**

Li F, Hur M, Mur S, Wang S, Sarkar P, Shao S, Aispuro D, Cong X, Hu Y, Li Z, Xue M. Multiplex Protein Imaging through PACIFIC: Photoactive Immunofluorescence with Iterative Cleavage . ASC Bio & Med Chem. 2023; doi.org/10.1021/acsbiomedchemau.3c00018

Li Z, Huang Y, Hung T, Sun J, Aispuro D, Chen B, Guevara N, Ji F, Cong X, Zhu L, Wang S, Guo Z, Chang C, Xue M. MYC-Targeting Inhibitors Generated from a Stereodiversified Bicyclic Peptide Library . J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 2, 1356-1363. **CSVCC Supported**

Updates

Gave an invited talk at the ASBMB annual meeting this April, as part of the “Chemical Biology Focus Group.” The title was “Chemical Biology Applications of Cyclic peptides.”