UQ-bio Summer School

Jonathan Lifferth

Jonathan Lifferth

Vanderbilt University

Collaborators: Naotoshi Nakamura, Takashi Suzuki, Osaka University; Darren R Tyson, Carlos F Lopez, Vito Quaranta, Vanderbilt University; Naohiko Koshikawa, Tokyo Institute of Technology

Title: AKT inhibition reduces cell motility in CD90+ Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Short Abstract:  Subtypes of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can be classified by expression of stem cell surface markers EpCAM+, CD90+, or lack thereof. Mathematical modeling based on time-series RPPA data suggests that metastasis in CD90+ HCC cell lines is dependent on AKT activity. Statistical analysis of HCC cell speed demonstrates that treatment with MK2206, an AKT inhibitor, results in reduced cell speed in CD90+ HCC cells and not in EpCAM+ cells.

Presenter Biosketch: Mariana obtained her B.Sc. degree in Genomic Sciences from UNAM (2009), her M.Sc. degree in Biomedical Engineering and Physics from CINVESTAV Monterrey (2011) under the supervision of Dr. Moisés Santillán, and her Ph.D. degree in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics from Duke University (2016) under the supervision of Dr. Nicolas Buchler. Her graduate research explored how organisms can use epigenetics and gene expression stochasticity to deal with fluctuating environments, focusing on the properties and evolutionary emergence of bistable switches. Following her Ph.D. studies, during her postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Hana El-Samad at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), she studied the principles and limitations of cellular feedback control. At LIIGH, she aims to understand how the dynamic properties of gene regulatory circuits emerge, proliferate and persist through natural selection. Her work combines evolutionary theory, population genetics, and biophysical models of gene regulatory circuits. Her expertise comprises mathematical modeling of gene regulatory circuits and nonlinear dynamics.

Link to Full Abstract: LIFFERTH_JONATHAN

Link to Poster: Poster Jonathan Lifferth

Contact: mgschiavon@liigh.unam.mx