Steven E. Artandi, MD PhD, Jerome and Daisy Low Gilbert Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry; Professor of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine.
Research description: The Artandi group is investigating the origins of cancer and the mechanistic underpinnings governing carcinogenesis. They have discovered that dysfunction of telomeres is a potent initiator of chromosomal instability and epithelial tumor formation. Given the fundamental link between telomerase and cancer, this has led to the molecular and biochemical dissection of telomerase in human cells. Dr. Artandi’s group has identified critical new steps in telomerase regulation in human cancer cells, including steps in assembly and trafficking, including enzymes required for assembly of the telomerase enzyme. They also identified new mutations in dyskeratosis congenita, a premature stem cell failure and cancer-predisposition syndrome, which act in a novel manner by impairing telomerase trafficking. His laboratory uncovered novel roles for telomerase in stimulating tissue stem cells through a non-canonical pathway, independent of its function in adding telomere repeats. They are also pioneering the identification of telomerase-expressing tissue stem cells in adult tissues to explain cellular mechanisms of tissue renewal, to understand potential cancer cells-of-origin and to discover new genetic vulnerabilities of advanced human cancers. This work frames their studies of the earliest steps in pancreatic cancer development. They hope to gain new insights for early detection, prevention and the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer.
Dr. Artandi’s group has collaborations with other members of the PCRG, including Drs. Kim and Attardi.
Selected relevant publications (Stanford PCRG members in bold):
Garbuzov A, Pech MF, Hasegawa K, Sukhwani M, Zhang RJ, Orwig KE, Artandi SE. (2018) Purification of GFRα1+ and GFRα1- Spermatogonial Stem Cells Reveals a Niche-Dependent Mechanism for Fate Determination. Stem Cell Reports, 10:553-567.
Lin S, Nascimento EM, Gajera C, Chen L, Neuhoefer P, Garbuzov A, Wang S, and Artandi SE. (2018) Distributed hepatocytes expressing telomerase repopulate the liver in homeostasis and injury. Nature, In press.