Publications
Publications
Selected and recent work.
A complete, automatically-updating publication list is also available on PubMed. PDF links below go to PubMed Central (PMC) when an open-access version is available, otherwise to the journal.
Featured Publications
A commonly inherited human PCSK9 germline variant drives breast cancer metastasis via LRP1 receptor
Cell · 2025 · 188(2):371-389.e28
A commonly inherited PCSK9 germline variant promotes breast cancer metastasis through LRP1 signaling, identifying a heritable driver of metastatic risk and a candidate therapeutic axis.
Neuronal substance P drives metastasis through an extracellular RNA-TLR7 axis
Nature · 2024 · 633(8028):207-215
Neuronal substance P released into the tumor microenvironment drives metastatic dissemination via an extracellular RNA-TLR7 axis, revealing a previously unrecognized neural input to cancer progression.
Common human genetic variants of APOE impact murine COVID-19 mortality
Nature · 2022 · 611(7935):346-351
Human APOE genotype influences murine SARS-CoV-2 mortality, revealing APOE as a genetic link between Alzheimer’s risk and anti-viral immunity.
Tumoural activation of TLR3-SLIT2 axis in endothelium drives metastasis
Nature · 2020 · 586(7828):299-304
Cancer cell-secreted RNAs engage endothelial TLR3 to activate a SLIT2 program that drives metastasis, identifying a tumor-endothelial signaling axis amenable to therapeutic blockade.
Common germline variants of the human APOE gene modulate melanoma progression and survival
Nature medicine · 2020 · 26(7):1048-1053
Common APOE germline variants modulate melanoma progression and survival in patients and in mouse models — the first demonstration that an inherited human genetic variant directly alters cancer progression, metastasis, and human survival outcomes.
LXR/ApoE Activation Restricts Innate Immune Suppression in Cancer
Cell · 2018 · 172(4):825-840.e18
LXR/ApoE activation restricts the accumulation of myeloid-derived suppressor cells and unleashes anti-tumor immunity — a discovery that motivated the clinical translation of LXR agonists for solid tumors.
Modulated Expression of Specific tRNAs Drives Gene Expression and Cancer Progression
Cell · 2016 · 165(6):1416-1427
Specific tRNAs are dynamically modulated during breast cancer progression and drive metastasis by selectively enhancing translation of pro-metastatic transcripts — overturning the view of tRNAs as static adaptors.
Extracellular metabolic energetics can promote cancer progression
Cell · 2015 · 160(3):393-406
Extracellular creatine and creatine kinase fuel cancer progression through metabolic energetics, defining the CKB axis as a target for blocking metastatic colonization in colorectal cancer.
Convergent multi-miRNA targeting of ApoE drives LRP1/LRP8-dependent melanoma metastasis and angiogenesis
Cell · 2012 · 151(5):1068-82
Convergent targeting of ApoE by multiple metastasis-promoting microRNAs drives melanoma progression and angiogenesis via LRP1 and LRP8 — the lab’s first identification of ApoE as a metastasis-suppressing endogenous factor.