COHORT 1

Peiwen Chen, PhD

Project

Mechanism and Therapeutic Potential of PTEN-Regulated MDSCc in Glioblastoma

Topic Area

Brain Cancer

Highlighted Publications

Chen P, Hsu W-H, Chang A, Tan Z, Lan Z, Zhou A, Spring DJ, Lang FF, Wang YA, DePinho RA. Circadian Regulator CLOCK Recruits Immune Suppressive Microglia into the GBM Tumor Microenvironment . Cancer Discovery. 2020; 10(3):371-381.

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.

Pang L, Khan F, Heimberger AB, Chen P. Mechanism and Therapeutic Potential of Tumor-Immune Symbiosis in Glioblastoma . Trends in Cancer. 2022; 8(10):839-854.

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*

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.

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.

DeWeerd RA, Green AM. Qualitative and quantitative analysis of DNA-cytidine deaminase activity . Methods Mol Biol, 2022; 2444:161-9.

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.

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*

Jang HL, Sengupta S. Comparison of the therapeutic strategies for immune-oncology. In: Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy. Volume 1: Delivery Strategies and Engineering Technologies in Cancer Immunotherapy . Elsevier; 2021: 439.

Jang HL*, Sengupta S*. Transcellular transfer of nanomedicine . Nature Nanotechnology. 2019;14:731-2.

Robert G. Rowe, MD, PhD

Project

Defining Leukemia Stem Cell in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Topic Area

Blood Cancers

Highlighted Publications

Marion W, Boettcher S, Ruiz-Torres S, Lummertz da Rocha E, Lundin V, Morris V, Chou S, Zhao A, Kubaczka C, Aumais O, Zhang Y, Shimamura A, Schlaeger T, North T, Ebert B, Wells S, Daley G, Rowe RG. An Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Model of Fanconi Anemia Reveals Mechanisms of p53-Driven Progenitor Cell Differentiation . Blood Advances. 2020;4(19):4679-4692.

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**

Rowe RG, Lummertz da Rocha E, Sousa P, Missios P, Morse M, Marion W, Yermalovich A, Barragan J, Mathieu R, Jha D, Fleming M, North T, Daley G.  The Developmental Stage of the Hematopoietic Niche Regulates Lineage in MLL-Rearranged Leukemia. 2019;16(3):527-538.

Rowe RG, Daley G. Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in Disease Modelling and Drug Discovery. Nature Reviews Genetics. 2019; 20,377-388.

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

Sethi NS, Kikuchi O, Duronio G, Stachler M, McFarland J, Ferrer-Luna R, Zhang Y, Bao C, Bronson R, Patil D, Sanchez-Vega F, Liu J, Sicinska E, Lazaro J, Ligon K, Beroukhim R, Bass A. Early TP53 Alterations Engage Environmental Exposures to Promote Gastric Premalignancy in an Integrative Mouse Model. Nature Genetics. 2020; 52(2):219:230.

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*

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

BSarkar P, Li Z, Ren W, Wang S, Shao S, Sun J, Ren X, Perkins N, Guo Z, Chang C, Song J, Xue M.  Inhibiting Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 Activation by Perturbing Protein-Protein Interactions Using a Cyclic Peptide . Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 2020; 63(19):6979-6990.

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

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.”