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 […]

Aging Cell: Chloride channel accessory 1 integrates chloride channel activity and mTORC1 in aging-related kidney injury (Chen Lab)

June 12, 2021

Hak Joo Lee, Andrew Donati, Denis Feliers, Yuyang Sun, Yanli Ding, Muniswamy Madesh, Adam B. Salmon, Yuji Ikeno, Corinna Ross, Christopher L. O’Connor, Wenjun Ju, Markus Bitzer, Yidong Chen, Goutam Ghosh Choudhury, Brij B. Singh, Kumar Sharma, Balakuntalam S. Kasinath  Abstract The mechanism of kidney injury in aging is not well understood. In order to […]

Molecular Cancer Therapeutics: International consensus on minimum preclinical testing requirements for the development of innovative therapies for children and adolescents with cancer (Houghton)

June 4, 2021

Gilles Vassal, Peter J Houghton, Stefan M Pfister, Malcolm A. Smith, Huib N Caron, Xiao-Nan Li, David J Shields, Olaf Witt, Jan J Molenaar, Sara Colombetti, Julia Schuler, and Lou F Stancato Abstract Cancer remains the leading cause of disease-related death in children. For the many children who experience relapses of their malignant solid tumors, usually after very intensive first-line therapy, curative treatment options are scarce. Preclinical drug testing to identify promising treatment elements that match the molecular make-up […]

Nature Communications: Metal ions help COVID-19 virus to disguise itself (Gupta Lab)

June 2, 2021

SAN ANTONIO (June 2, 2021) — Scientists from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (Gupta Lab) and other collaborators have discovered a mechanism by which SARS-CoV-2 exploits changes in metal ion concentrations to disguise itself in the body. Varying concentrations of metal ions — positively charged atoms such as magnesium, manganese, […]

Leibert Pub: Zebrafish Tumor Graft Transplantation to Grow Tumors In Vivo That Engraft Poorly as Single Cell Suspensions (Ignatius Lab)

May 21, 2021

Amanda Lipsitt, Nicole R. Hensch, Rodrigo Moreno-Campos, Kunal Baxi, Jiangfei Chen, Anil K. Challa, Eleanor Y. Chen, and Myron S. Ignatius Abstract Angiosarcoma is a clinically aggressive tumor with a high rate of mortality. It can arise in vascular or lymphatic tissues, involve any part of the body, and aggressively spread locally or metastasize. Angiosarcomas spontaneously develop in the tp53 deleted (tp53del/del) zebrafish mutant. […]