Research Paper

Science Advances: Regulation of telomere homeostasis and genomic stability in cancer by N6-adenosine methylation (m6A) (Rao & Zheng Labs)

July 29, 2021

View ORCID ProfileJi Hoon Lee1,†, View ORCID ProfileJuyeong Hong1,†, View ORCID ProfileZhao Zhang1,†, View ORCID ProfileBárbara de la Peña Avalos2,3, View ORCID ProfileCecilia J. Proietti4, View ORCID ProfileAgustina Roldán Deamicis4, View ORCID ProfilePablo Guzmán G.5, Hung-Ming Lam6, Jose Garcia6, Martine P. Roudier6, View ORCID ProfileAnthony E. Sisk7, View ORCID ProfileRichard De La Rosa1, View ORCID ProfileKevin Vu8, Mei Yang1, Yiji Liao1, View ORCID ProfileJessica Scheirer1, View ORCID ProfileDouglas Pechacek1, Pooja Yadav9,10, View ORCID […]



Scientific Reports: A comprehensive meta-analysis and a case–control study give insights into genetic susceptibility of lung cancer and subgroups (Bishop Lab)

July 19, 2021

Debmalya Sengupta, Souradeep Banerjee, Pramiti Mukhopadhyay (Bishop Lab)  Ritabrata Mitra, Tamohan Chaudhuri, Abhijit Sarkar, Gautam Bhattacharjee, Somsubhra Nath, Susanta Roychoudhury, Samsiddhi Bhattacharjee & Mainak Sengupta Abstract Reports of genetic association of polymorphisms with lung cancer in the Indian subcontinent are often conflicting. To summarise and replicate published evidence for association with lung cancer and its subgroups. […]


eLife Sciences: Loss of MGA repression mediated by an atypical polycomb complex promotes tumor progression and invasiveness (Shiio Lab)

July 9, 2021

    Haritha Mathsyaraja,  Jonathen Catchpole,  Brian Freie,  Emily Eastwood,  Ekaterina Babaeva,  Michael Geuenich,  Pei Feng Cheng,  Jessica Ayers,  Ming Yu,  Nan Wu,  Sitapriya Moorthi,  Kumud R Poudel,  Amanda Koehne,  William Grady,  A McGarry Houghton,  Alice H Berger,  Yuzuru Shiio,  David MacPherson   Robert N Eisenman Abstract MGA, a transcription factor and member of the […]


Cell Reports: NELL2-cdc42 signaling regulates BAF complexes and Ewing sarcoma cell growthNELL2-cdc42 signaling regulates BAF complexes and Ewing sarcoma cell growth (Shiio, Houghton)

July 8, 2021

Panneerselvam Jayabal1, Fuchun Zhou1, Xiufen Lei1, XiuyeMa1, Barron Blackman1, Susan T.Weintraub23, Peter J.Houghton134, YuzuruShiio1235 Highlights • The autocrine signaling mediated by NELL2 maintains Ewing sarcoma cell growth • NELL2 signaling inhibits cdc42 and enhances EWS-FLI1 transcriptional output • NELL2-cdc42 signaling regulates the assembly and the stability of BAF complexes • Ewing sarcoma harbors cell populations […]


Dr. Houghton Co-Authors MDPI paper, “Dihydroartemisinin Inhibits mTORC1 Signaling by Activating the AMPK Pathway in Rhabdomyosarcoma Tumor Cells

July 2, 2021

Authored by: Jun Luo, Yoshinobu Odaka, Zhu Huang, Bing Cheng, Wang Liu, Lin Li, Chaowei Shang, Chao Zhang, Yang Wu, Yan Luo, Shengyong Yang, Peter J. Houghton, Xiaofeng Guo, Shile Huang Abstract Dihydroartemisinin (DHA), an anti-malarial drug, has been shown to possess potent anticancer activity, partly by inhibiting the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling. However, how DHA inhibits mTORC1 is still unknown. Here, [...]

Nature Communications: Structural basis of DNA synthesis opposite 8-oxoguanine by human PrimPol primase-polymerase (Gupta)

June 29, 2021

Olga Rechkoblit, Robert E. Johnson, Yogesh K. Gupta, Louise Prakash, Satya Prakash & Aneel K. Aggarwal Abstract PrimPol is a human DNA polymerase-primase that localizes to mitochondria and nucleus and bypasses the major oxidative lesion 7,8-dihydro-8-oxoguanine (oxoG) via translesion synthesis, in a mostly error-free manner. We present structures of PrimPol insertion complexes with a DNA template-primer and correct dCTP or erroneous […]


Pertsemlidis Lab Awarded American Lung Association Grant to Study “Identifying Exploitable Biomarkers of Lung Cancer Metastasis”

June 16, 2021

Abstract Rationale. Most cancer deaths are caused by metastatic disease, and the prevention of metastasis is a significant focus of clinical research. Aberrant expression of miRNAs has been found in all cancers, yielding insights into disease processes that would be difficult to detect by other methods and revealing fundamental therapeutic vulnerabilities. miRNAs have been shown […]


St. Baldrick’s: Checking the Life-Threatening Box: A Survivor’s Update (Aune)

June 16, 2021

A childhood cancer survivor himself, Gregory J. Aune, MD, PhD, shares his personal experience and thoughts during National Cancer Survivor Month.           (Originally posted on Medium on May 19th, Dr. Aune graciously agreed to share this with St. Baldrick’s.) Dr. Aune was a St. Baldrick’s Scholar 2014 – 2019, serves as […]


Greehey CCRI’s Genomic Sequencing Facility to Receive $600,000 NIH Grant to upgrade genomic sequencing capabilities (Lai Lab).

June 15, 2021

Dr. Zhao Lai, Director of the Genomic Sequencing Facility (GSF) at the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute (Greehey CCRI) at UT Health San Antonio (UTHSA), has been awarded a $600,000 NIH grant to help purchase a new Illumina NovaSeq 6000. This new system will improve the range of basic, translational, clinical, and genomics studies at […]