Mechanical regulation of cancer cell biology

Tumors grow within a confined space - the human body. A rapidly growing tumor exerts a significant degree of mechanical force on surrounding tissues. Neighboring tissues likely also exert force on the tumor that could act to restrain tumor growth. I am currently studying how growth of tumor cells within confined spaces influences their biology and behavior. Using human cell lines and a zebrafish model of melanoma, I am applying cutting-edge imaging and bioinformatics approaches to characterize the effect of confinement on melanoma cell state.

Spatially resolved transcriptomics of the tumor-microenvironment interface

As tumors grow and invade into new tissues, they come into contact with many non-tumor cell types, including fat, muscle, skin, and bone. It is not clear how tumor cells sense and signal to different cell types, nor is it known which biological pathways may regulate these interactions or how these interactions could promote tumor progression. In collaboration with Reuben Moncada and Itai Yanai (NYU), I applied spatially resolved transcriptomics and single-cell RNA-seq to a zebrafish model of melanoma to investigate how tumor cells sense and adapt to new cellular environments. Our work suggests that tumor and microenvironment cells at the invasive front of the tumor together upregulate a common set of cilia genes, which may be important in tumor growth and invasion.

Relevant publications:
Hunter, Moncada, et al., Nature Communications (2021) link
Zhang et al., Cell Systems (2023) link
Baron et al., Cell Systems (2020) link