
Zhao Laboratory
Di Zhao, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
- Departments, Labs and Institutes
- Labs
- Di Zhao Laboratory
Areas of Research
- Prostate Cancer
- Targeted Therapy
- Immunotherapy
- Tumor Microenvironment
Over the past decade, large-scale cancer genome studies have uncovered emerging genetic alterations in malignancies. The Zhao Laboratory in the Experimental Radiation Oncology department focuses on functional genomics of prostate cancer, with a special interest in understanding crosstalk between cancer cells and immune components in the tumor microenvironment and metastatic niche.
Recent Publications
Chen F, Li H, Wang Y, Tang X, Lin K, Li Q, Meng C, Shi W, Leo J, Liang X, Zhang J, Van V, Mahmud I, Wei B, Lorenzi P, Raso M, Aparicio A, Lu Y, Frigo D, Gan B, Zhao D*. CHD1 loss reprograms SREBP2-driven cholesterol synthesis to fuel androgen-responsive growth and castration resistance in SPOP-mutated prostate tumors. Nature Cancer. In press.
Meng C, Lin K, Shi W, Teng H, DeBruine A, Wang Y, Chen F, Leo J, Zhang J, Van V, Maldonado K, Gan B, Ma L, Lu Y*, Zhao D*.Histone Methyltransferase ASH1L Primes Metastases and Metabolic Reprogramming of Macrophages in the Bone Niche. Nature Communications. In press
Shi W, Wang Y, Zhao Y, Kim JJ, Li H, Meng C, Chen F, Zhang J, Mak DH, Van V, Leo J, St Croix B, Aparicio A, Zhao D*. Immune Checkpoint B7-H3 is a Therapeutic Vulnerability in Prostate Cancer Harboring PTEN and TP53 Deficiencies. Science Translational Medicine. 2023 May 10; 15(695): eadf6724. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.adf6724. PMID: 37163614.
Li H, Wang Y, Lin K, Venkadakrishnan V, Bakht M, Shi W, Meng C, Zhang J, Tremble K, Liang X, Song J, Feng X, Van V, Deng P, Burks J, Aparicio A, Keyomarsi K, Chen J, Lu Y, Beltran H, Zhao D*. CHD1 promotes sensitivity to Aurora kinase inhibitors by suppressing interaction of AURKA with its coactivator TPX2. Cancer Res. 2022. DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-22-0631. PMID: 35771632
Our Funding
CPRIT Recruitment of First-Time Tenure-Track Faculty Award
06/2019-05/2024
NIH/NCI - 1R01CA275990
01/2023-12/2027
Prostate Cancer Foundation Challenge Award
01/2023-01/2025
DoD Prostate Cancer Research Program Idea Development Award
09/2024-08/2027
Âé¶¹Ó³» MD Anderson Cancer Center Faculty Scholar Award
07/2023-06/2026
Âé¶¹Ó³» MD Anderson Cancer Center Institutional Research Grant
09/2023-08/2024