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Oscar Rene Colegio MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Dermatology

Research Interests

Squamous cell carcinoma; basal cell carcinoma; melanoma; tumor-associated macrophages; immunology; hypoxia; epithelial-mesenchymal transitions; solid organ transplantation

Current Projects

  • The role of macrophages in progression of cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas

Research Summary

The focus of our lab is to characterize the role of immune cells called macrophages in tumor progression. The focus of these studies has been to identify pathways of tumorigenesis critical to a variety of murine tumor types including lung carcinoma, melanoma, colon carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. In addition, we are performing parallel studies in identifying tumor-promoting pathways produced by infiltrating macrophages in human squamous cell carcinomas from immunosuppressed transplant recipients vs non-immunosuppressed patients.

Selected Publications

  • Liu LS, Colegio OR. Molecularly targeted therapies for nonmelanoma skin cancers. Int J Dermatol. 2013 Jun;52(6):654-65. doi: 10.1111/ijd.12017.
  • Liu LS, Colegio OR. Molecularly targeted therapies for melanoma. Int J Dermatol. 2013 May;52(5):523-30. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-4632.2012.05829.x.
  • Bangash HK, Colegio OR. Management of Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer in Immunocompromised Solid Organ Transplant Recipients. Curr Treat Options Oncol. 2012 May 17. [Epub ahead of print].
  • Eisenbarth SC, Williams A, Colegio OR, Meng H, Strowig T, Rongvaux A, Henao-Mejia J, Thaiss CA, Joly S, Gonzalez DG, Xu L, Zenewicz LA, Haberman AM, Elinav E, Kleinstein SH, Sutterwala FS, Flavell RA. NLRP10 is a NOD-like receptor essential to initiate adaptive immunity by dendritic cells. Nature. 2012 Apr 25;484(7395):510-3.
  • Colegio OR, Billingsley EM. Skin cancer in transplant recipients, out of the woods. Scientific retreat of the ITSCC and SCOPE. Am J Transplant. 2011 Aug;11(8):1584-91.
  • Colegio OR, Kluger MS. Lymphangiogenesis linked to VEGF-C from tumor-associated macrophages: accomplices to metastasis by cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma? J Invest Dermatol. 2011 Jan;131(1):17-9.
  • Colegio OR, Proby CM, Bordeaux JS, McGregor JM. Prognosis of pretransplant melanoma. Am J Tranplant. 2009 Apr;9(4):862.
  • Eisenbarth SC, Colegio OR, O’Connor W, Sutterwala FS, Flavell RA. Crucial role for the Nalp3 inflammasome in the immunostimulatory properties of aluminum adjuvants. Nature. Published online May 21, 2008. doi:10.1038/nature06939.
  • Colegio OR, Van Itallie CM, Rahner C, Anderson JM. Extracellular domains of claudins determine paracellular charge selectivity and resistance but not tight junction fibril architecture. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 2003 Jun 284(6):C1346-54.
  • Colegio OR, Van Itallie CM, McCrea HJ, Rahner C, Anderson JM. Claudins create charge-selective channels in the paracellular pathway between epithelial cells. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 2002 Jul; 283(1):C142-C147.

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