Ubellacker Lab

Awesome study, congrats to all! 🎉

Conservation and divergence of metabolic phenotypes between patient tumours and matched xenografts - Nature Metabolism Rao and Cai et al. perform a detailed metabolic comparison between primary tumours from patients and their matching xenografts, which identify conserved as well as divergent metabolic patterns.

1/Patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) are used in preclinical testing of cancer therapies, including metabolic therapies. We determined which metabolic properties are retained, and which are lost, when melanomas from patients are implanted and passaged as PDXs in mice.
www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Huge thank you to @olzmannlab.bsky.social and Scott Dixon for a phenomenal 1st FASEB Ferroptosis conference! I’m grateful to be part of such a collaborative community and it was especially great to meet all the brilliant trainees whose insights are clearly shaping the exciting future of the field! 🎉

Wow, super cool findings for targeting FSP1/the immune system in ferroptosis! 🎉

Selective disruption of lipid peroxide homeostasis in intratumoral regulatory T cells by targeting FSP1 enhances cancer immunity A burgeoning approach to treat cancer is the pharmacological induction of ferroptotic cell death of tumor cells. However, the impact of disrupting anti-ferroptotic pathways in the broader tumor microe...

New preprint w/ the Dupage lab led by @jgcastillo.bsky.social! FSP1 KO in Tregs / Tcells promotes tumor suppression, highlighting the therapeutic value potential of FSP1 inhibition. New paradigm for targeting ferroptosis in immune system (not just in cancer cells). 🤩
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

So lucky to have you onboard as the first founding postdoc of the ULab, @mariesabatier.bsky.social, to help build the lab from the beginning!

It’s over 100°F in Boston, and though both the weather and funding climates are intense, we took a well-deserved ice cream break to celebrate the progress, and the incredible people past and present, behind it all. Happy 3rd birthday, ULab! 🎉

Congrats on this fantastic work! 🎉

Congratulations, super exciting work! 🎉

Cocrystal structure reveals the mechanism of FSP1 inhibition by FSEN1 | PNAS FSP1 is an FAD-dependent oxidoreductase that uses NAD(P)H to regenerate the reduced forms of lipophilic quinone antioxidants, such as coenzyme Q10 ...

Thrilled this paper is out! We solved the first cocrystal structure of FSP1 with an inhibitor (FSEN1), providing mechanistic insight & a foundation for medchem. Led by Amalia Megarioti & Sitao Zhang. A terrific collaboration with Da Jia.
Brief Skytorial!
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Join us next Monday: June 2, 3-4PM off the Harvard Longwood Quad for two great cell death discussions on ferroptosis in breast cancer metastasis from
@mariesabatier.bsky.social
(Ubellacker Lab) and on thiol-reductive stress from Maolin Ge (Bar-Peled Lab)!

Harvard Chan scientists participate in a rigorous application process for federal grants to conduct their vital health research. The government has now terminated nearly every single one of those grants.

Indeed, our Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute, which funded all research personnel and activities in my modest-sized lab of 5 has been unceremoniously terminated.

Way-to-go Alanis Carmona and Lewis Hendrianto for your incredible posters today at the Landry Cancer Biology Consortium, and shout-out to Alanis on your Karin Grunebaum Cancer Research Foundation Rising Young Scientist Award!

Join us June 2, 3-4PM off the Harvard Longwood Quad for two great cell death discussions on ferroptosis in breast cancer metastasis from @mariesabatier.bsky.social (Ubellacker Lab) and on thiol-reductive stress from Maolin Ge (Bar-Peled Lab)

Fantastic visit yesterday from the great Scott Dixon as part of our Cutter Distinguished Lecture on Molecular Metabolism series. An honor to host such an outstanding scientist and mentor to so many in the cell death field!

Lipid-degrading small molecule kills cancer cells by ferroptosis A molecule designed to activate iron locked up in organelles called lysosomes and thereby induce cell death might offer a way to tackle treatment-resistant cancer.

Excited to see our N&V w/ @mikelangelipid.bsky.social published in Nature, highlighting new work from Raphael Rodriguez and team. A heterofunctional molecule that activates lysosomal iron triggers lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis in therapy-resistant cancer cells. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Lipid-degrading small molecule kills cancer cells by ferroptosis A molecule designed to activate iron locked up in organelles called lysosomes and thereby induce cell death might offer a way to tackle treatment-resistant cancer.

And the fantastic News & Views summary from @mikelangelipid.bsky.social and
@olzmannlab.bsky.social: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Lipid-degrading small molecule kills cancer cells by ferroptosis A molecule designed to activate iron locked up in organelles called lysosomes and thereby induce cell death might offer a way to tackle treatment-resistant cancer.

and the News & Views www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Our team (hsph.harvard.edu/research/ube...) is excited to have contributed to the intranodal in vivo testing of the remarkable new compound, Fentomycin-1. Congrats to team Rodriguez et al. for the implications of this work in targeting ferroptosis in cancer. Check it out here!

A reminder that for next month’s BCDI in place of our regular discussion, we encourage you to attend the Cutter Distinguished Lecture @met-hsph.bsky.social by the great Scott Dixon!

See you there: Monday May 12, 2025, Kresge Building at HSPH, G1 auditorium, 12:00-1:00pm

Can't wait for this fantastic meeting! See you all there - registration deadline June 1. Check it out and join us there today at shorturl.at/QA6T1

#FOLSCR is a new conference exploring all aspects of a form of cell death that results from iron accumulation and lipid peroxidation. Hear keynotes @ginadenicola.bsky.social and @brentstockwell.bsky.social with organizers Scott Dixon and @olzmannlab.bsky.social. Save your space: buff.ly/MmJsYQq

A reminder that for next month’s BCDI in place of our regular discussion, we encourage you to attend the Cutter Distinguished Lecture @met-hsph.bsky.social by the great Scott Dixon!

See you there: Monday May 12, 2025, Kresge Building at HSPH, G1 auditorium, 12:00-1:00pm

Short on time wrangling research hurdles or just life in general? @mariopalma.bsky.social and @mariesabatier.bsky.social have you covered with this focused spotlight on Ueda et al.’s work in Nature Cell Biology on oxidative niches and cancer cell dissemination. Spotlight article here: rb.gy/zi8wj9

Recommendations for robust and reproducible research on ferroptosis Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology - Ferroptosis is a non-apoptotic type of cell death that is induced by uncontrolled iron-dependent phospholipid peroxidation and has important roles in...

Important walkthrough for newcomers in the field
rdcu.be/eg58p

Life Science Research Professional 1 in School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States Stanford University is seeking a Life Science Research Professional 1 to perform basic functions and activities involved in defined research projects....

Our lab has an opening for a new Research Assistant (LSRP) starting this Summer/Fall. If you're interested in joining a vibrant community working at the interfaces of cancer metastasis and adaptive immunity, apply here:
careersearch.stanford.edu/jobs/life-sc...

We’re proud Samir Mitri, Clinical Research Fellow with Ted James, MD and the Ubellacker Lab at @met-hsph.bsky.social, matched into Surgery at BIDMC! Samir led a collaboration combining clinical lymph node studies with metabolomics, funded by the Ludwig Center at Harvard. Congratulations, Samir!

See you there! Monday April 7th at 3PM on the Harvard Med Quad. bostoncelldeath.org

Federal funding drives groundbreaking research at Harvard Chan School | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Harvard Chan faculty conduct groundbreaking research that has led directly to lifesaving vaccines, treatments, policies, and programs.

With support from federal funding, @hsph.harvard.edu faculty have conducted groundbreaking research that has led directly to treatments, policies, and programs that have saved lives by the millions, in the US and around the world.

Here are just three examples: hsph.harvard.edu/news/federal...