Don Nguyen, PhD, BS
Research & Publications
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Research Summary
Cancer metastasis remains an unresolved clinical and biological problem. This is particularly relevant in the case of thoracic malignancies, which can spread aggressively to distant organs with limited opportunity for effective therapeutic intervention. Metastatic cancer cells are believed to acquire complex biological properties by deregulating pleiotoropic molecular programs and interacting with their microenvironment. My laboratory is interested in uncovering the epigenetic, cellular, and physiological determinants of metastasis by different lung cancer subtypes. Lung cancers as well as other tumor types such as breast cancer and melanoma most notably metastasize to the central nervous system. We are therefore also studying how the unique brain microenvironment alters the therapeutic response of disseminated tumor cells across different cancers. In our endeavors, we utilize a variety of approaches such as animal modeling, human biospecimen research, functional genomics, cell biology, and bioinformatics.
Specialized Terms: Metastasis; Lung cancer; Cancer genomics; Tumor microenvironment; Brain metastasis
Coauthors
Research Interests
Inflammation; Neoplasm Metastasis; Pathology; Genomics; Epigenomics; Tumor Microenvironment; Neoplasm Micrometastasis
Public Health Interests
Cancer; Genetics, Genomics, Epigenetics
Research Image
Co-option of the brain microenvironment by metastatic lung cancer cells
Selected Publications
- Control of alveolar differentiation by the lineage transcription factors GATA6 and HOPX inhibits lung adenocarcinoma metastasis.Cheung WK, Zhao M, Liu Z, Stevens LE, Cao PD, Fang JE, Westbrook TF, Nguyen DX. Control of alveolar differentiation by the lineage transcription factors GATA6 and HOPX inhibits lung adenocarcinoma metastasis. Cancer Cell 2013, 23: 725-38 PubMed ID: 23707782, PMCID: PMC3697763, DOI: 10.1016/j.ccr.2013.04.009.
- Extracellular Matrix Receptor Expression in Subtypes of Lung Adenocarcinoma Potentiates Outgrowth of Micrometastases.Stevens LE, Cheung WKC, Adua SJ, Arnal-Estapé A, Zhao M, Liu Z, Brewer K, Herbst RS, Nguyen DX. Extracellular Matrix Receptor Expression in Subtypes of Lung Adenocarcinoma Potentiates Outgrowth of Micrometastases. Cancer Research 2017, 77: 1905-1917 PubMed ID: 28196904, PMCID: PMC5468792, DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-16-1978.
- Transcriptomic Hallmarks of Tumor Plasticity and Stromal Interactions in Brain Metastasis.Wingrove E, Liu ZZ, Patel KD, Arnal-Estapé A, Cai WL, Melnick MA, Politi K, Monteiro C, Zhu L, Valiente M, Kluger HM, Chiang VL, Nguyen DX. Transcriptomic Hallmarks of Tumor Plasticity and Stromal Interactions in Brain Metastasis. Cell Reports 2019, 27: 1277-1292.e7 PubMed ID: 31018140, PMCID: PMC6592283, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.03.085.
- Adaptive Protein Translation by the Integrated Stress Response Maintains the Proliferative and Migratory Capacity of Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells.Albert AE, Adua SJ, Cai WL, Arnal-Estape A, Cline GW, Liu Z, Zhao M, Cao PD, Mariappan M, Nguyen DX. Adaptive Protein Translation by the Integrated Stress Response Maintains the Proliferative and Migratory Capacity of Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells. Molecular Cancer Research : MCR 2019, 17: 2343-2355 PubMed ID: 31551255, PMCID: PMC6938689, DOI: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-19-0245.
- Specific chromatin landscapes and transcription factors couple breast cancer subtype with metastatic relapse to lung or brain.Cai WL, Greer CB, Chen JF, Arnal-Estapé A, Cao J, Yan Q, Nguyen DX. Specific chromatin landscapes and transcription factors couple breast cancer subtype with metastatic relapse to lung or brain. BMC Medical Genomics 2020, 13: 33 PubMed ID: 32143622, PMCID: PMC7060551, DOI: 10.1186/s12920-020-0695-0.
- Tumor progression and chromatin landscape of lung cancer are regulated by the lineage factor GATA6.Arnal-Estapé A, Cai WL, Albert AE, Zhao M, Stevens LE, López-Giráldez F, Patel KD, Tyagi S, Schmitt EM, Westbrook TF, Nguyen DX. Tumor progression and chromatin landscape of lung cancer are regulated by the lineage factor GATA6. Oncogene 2020, 39: 3726-3737 PubMed ID: 32157212, PMCID: PMC7190573, DOI: 10.1038/s41388-020-1246-z.
- Tumor DNA Mutations From Intraparenchymal Brain Metastases Are Detectable in CSF.Cheok SK, Narayan A, Arnal-Estape A, Gettinger S, Goldberg SB, Kluger HM, Nguyen D, Patel A, Chiang V. Tumor DNA Mutations From Intraparenchymal Brain Metastases Are Detectable in CSF. JCO Precision Oncology 2021, 5 PubMed ID: 34250381, PMCID: PMC8232069, DOI: 10.1200/PO.20.00292.
Clinical Trials
| Conditions | Study Title |
|---|---|
| Lung | Determining Mechanisms of Sensitivity and Resistance to Anti-Cancer Therapy for Advanced Lung Cancer |