Mikhail Nikiforov
Duke University, NC·Biology
Cells decide whether to grow, move or specialize partly through molecular switches and gene-control proteins. When these controls go wrong, the result can be diseases of the skin, including aggressive melanoma and the inflammatory condition psoriasis.
- Fields
Biology
Biochemistry
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
melanoma
metastasis
cell invasion
- Grants
- 2 known grants, through Jul 2028
What they work on
- Identify the mechanisms that recruit IMPDH2, the rate-limiting enzyme of GTP production, to the plasma membrane and protrusions of invading melanoma cells, where it fuels the cell-movement switch RAC1.
- Determine what keeps IMPDH2 levels high in metastatic melanoma cells, including transcriptional upregulation of GTP biosynthesis genes.
- Test IMPDH2 inhibition as a treatment strategy for melanoma brain metastases in preclinical models.
- Define how the transcription factor FOXQ1 represses differentiation genes at low calcium and activates them at high calcium in normal and HaCaT human keratinocytes.
- Generate keratinocyte-specific Foxq1 knockout mice to study how inflammatory cytokines regulate FOXQ1 and how FOXQ1 drives psoriasis-like overgrowth of keratinocytes.
More about the research
Two projects examine such controls: one in melanoma cells as they invade and spread, and one in keratinocytes, the main cells of the skin's outer layer, as they mature.
Why it matters
Metastatic melanoma lacks effective treatment, especially once it reaches the brain, and blocking IMPDH2 is being tested in preclinical models as a possible new treatment strategy. Psoriasis affects 2–3% of people worldwide. Understanding how FOXQ1 controls keratinocyte growth and maturation could point to ways to address this skin disease and other problems with the skin barrier.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Weili Miao
Stanford University, CA·Biology·Early-career
Define how glucose enables the RNA-binding protein DDX50 to form a complex with RNA and the protein STAU1, and how glucose controls this complex's role in keratinocyte differentiation.
Jennifer Yunyan Zhang
Duke University, NC·Microbiology & Immunology
Test whether UBE2N's enzyme activity and its partner UBE2V1 maintain normal epidermis and skin immune balance, using conditional genetic mouse models, single-cell transcriptomics and proteomics.
Rui Wang
Case Western Reserve University, OH·Pharmacology
Determine whether LRG1 secreted by liver endothelial cells drives colorectal cancer liver metastases to start and grow, using mice lacking endothelial LRG1 and an LRG1-neutralizing antibody.
The school
Duke University: 61 labs on PI Pages, $1.6B a year on research, 417 research doctorates a year.
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