Research

Pancreatic Cancer Research Cancer cells within a pancreatic tumor are exposed to severe physical and oxidative stress and are deprived of oxygen and nutrients. Despite such unfavorable circumstances for survival, these cells are able to persist and grow. Predictably, metabolism is rewired. A major focus of the Lyssiotis lab is aimed at defining metabolic alterations in pancreatic cancer to guide the development of diagnostic and prognostic markers, new drug targets and therapies.

Tumor Metabolism Research Cancer cells have different metabolic requirements than their normal counterparts. What do such differences mean and can we exploit them for therapeutic beneﬁt? See link for an introduction to cancer metabolism and the efforts by the Lyssiotis lab to understand how and why cancer cells differ metabolically from normal cells.

Immunometabolism Research The fate and function of cells in the immune system are intrinsically linked to their metabolic properties. The emerging field of immunometabolism seeks to define the pathways that regulate effector function in the many diverse immune cell lineages. See link to learn more about immunometabolism and how the Lyssiotis lab is employing these principles to harness the potential of the immune sysmtem to target and destroy cancer cells.

DIPG Research Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) is an aggressive, inoperable, and uniformly fatal pediatric brainstem tumor for which no treatment exists. The Lyssiotis lab is studying metabolic dysregulation in DIPG with the goal to identify perturbations that promote the aggressive tumor-phenotype and treatment resistance in DIPG.

Metabolomics Research Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics is the primary high-throughput technique used in the Lyssiotis lab. We have optimized (1) targeted metabolomics analysis pipelines and (2) stable isotope tracing of carbohydrates, amino acids, and lipids to study and define new metabolic programs in health and disease.