Research Areas

  • Cancer metabolism
  • Cancer genomics
  • Novel target discovery
  • Cancer therapy
Research Lab

Selected Publications

  1. Nwosu ZC, Ward MH, Sajjakulnukit P, Poudel P, Ragulan C, Kasperek S, Radyk M, Sutton D, Menjivar RE, Andren A, Apiz-Saab JJ, Tolstyka Z, Brown K, Lee HJ, Dzierozynski LN, He X, Ps H, Ugras J, Nyamundanda G, Zhang L, Halbrook CJ, Carpenter ES, Shi J, Shriver LP, Patti GJ, Muir A, Pasca di Magliano M, Sadanandam A, Lyssiotis CA. Uridine-derived ribose fuels glucose-restricted pancreatic cancer. Nature. 2023; PMID: 37198494.
  2. Menjivar RE, Nwosu ZC, Du W, Donahue KL, Hong HS, Espinoza C, Brown K, Velez-Delgado A, Yan W, Lima F, Bischoff A, Kadiyala P, Salas-Escabillas D, Crawford HC, Bednar F, Carpenter E, Zhang Y, Halbrook CJ, Lyssiotis CA, Pasca di Magliano M. Arginase 1 is a key driver of immune suppression in pancreatic cancer. Elife. 2023; 12:e80721. PMID: 36727849
  3. Bian Y, Li W, Kremer DM, Sajjakulnukit P, Li S, Crespo J, Nwosu ZC, Zhang L, Czerwonka A, Pawłowska A, Xia H, Li J, Liao P, Yu J, Vatan L, Szeliga W, Wei S, Grove S, Liu JR, McLean K, Cieslik M, Chinnaiyan AM, Zgodziński W, Wallner G, Wertel I, Okła K, Kryczek I, Lyssiotis CA, Zou W. Cancer SLC43A2 alters T cell methionine metabolism and histone methylation. Nature. 2020; 585(7824):277-282. PMID: 32879489
  4. Nwosu ZC, Piorońska W, Battello N, Zimmer AD, Dewidar B, Han M, Pereira S, Blagojevic B, Castven D, Charlestin V, Holenya P, Lochead J, De La Torre C, Gretz N, Sajjakulnukit P, Zhang L, Ward MH, Marquardt JU, di Magliano MP, Lyssiotis CA, Sleeman J, Wölfl S, Ebert MP, Meyer C, Hofmann U, Dooley S. Severe metabolic alterations in liver cancer lead to ERK pathway activation and drug resistance. EBioMedicine. 2020; 54:102699. PMID: 32330875
  5. Zhang Y, Lazarus J, Steele NG, Yan W, Lee HJ, Nwosu ZC, Halbrook CJ, Menjivar RE, Kemp SB, Sirihorachai VR, Velez-Delgado A, Donahue K, Carpenter ES, Brown KL, Irizarry-Negron V, Nevison AC, Vinta A, Anderson MA, Crawford HC, Lyssiotis CA, Frankel TL, Bednar F, Pasca di Magliano M. Regulatory T-cell depletion alters the tumor microenvironment and accelerates pancreatic carcinogenesis. Cancer Discovery. 2020; 10(3):422-439. PMID: 31911451
 
        Review Article
  1. Nwosu ZC, Song MG, Pasca di Magliano M, Lyssiotis CA, Kim KE. Nutrient transporters: connecting cancer metabolism to therapeutic opportunities. Oncogene. 2023; 42(10):711-724. PMID: 36739364
       
        Click here for the complete bibliography on PubMed
        
 
        Manuscripts on BioRxiv (Pending Publication in a Peer Reviewed Journal)
  1. Mbah NE, Myers AL, Chung C, Thompson JK, Hong HS, Sajjakulnukit P, Nwosu ZC, Shan M, Sweha SR, Maydan DD, Chen B, Zhang L, Magnuson B, Zui Z, Wahl DR, Franchi L, Agnihotri S, Koschmann CJ, Venneti S, Lyssiotis CA. Therapeutic targeting of differentiation state-dependent metabolic vulnerabilities in DIPG. BioRxiv 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.03.01.482555
  2. Nwosu ZC, Giza H, Nassif M, Charlestin V, Menjivar RE, Kim D, Kemp SB, Steele NG, Hu J, Hu B, Wang S, Pasca di Magliano M, Lyssiotis CA. Multi-dimensional analyses identify genes of high priority for pancreatic cancer research. BioRxiv 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.28.446056

Conferences

Selected conference/symposium activities/participation

ORAL PRESENTATIONS

  • AACR Special Conference in Cancer Research: Pancreatic Cancer, Boston, USA – September, 2023.
  • The Bishr Omary Physiology Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Investigator Symposium, University of Michigan, USA – May, 2023.
  • ExCel Scholar Award Symposium, Albert Einstein College of Med.& Montefiore Einstein Cancer Center, New York, USA – March, 2023.
  • Cancer Metabolism Showcase and Workshop | Virtual, April, 2022.
  • Cornell Cornell Rising Star Program Symposium, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA – March, 2022. More on the Rising Stars HERE.
  • Rising Stars Cancer Biology Symposium, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, USA – November, 2021.
  • Annual Meeting (Virtual), American Association for Cancer Research, USA – April, 2021 (Selected as a NextGen Star).
  • 19th Annual Pathology Research Symposium, University of Michigan, USA – November, 2020.
  • Metabolism & Signaling Meeting – Van Andel Institute, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA – November, 2019.
  • Southeast Michigan Postdoctoral Symposium – October, 2018.
  • Viszeralmedizin 2017 (72 Jahrestagung), Dresden, Germany – September, 2017.
  • European Society for Clinical Investigation, 50th Annual Scientific Meeting, Paris, France – April, 2016.
  • 4th Heidelberg Forum for Young Life Scientists, DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany – May, 2015.
  • Research Retreat of the Department of Medicine II, University Hospital Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Germany – December, 2014.
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
  • Japanese Cancer Association (JCA)-American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Precision Cancer Medicine Int’l Conference, Kyoto, Japan – June, 2023.
  • Keystone Symposium – Immunometabolism at the Crossroads of Obesity and Cancer, Keystone, Colorado, USA – September, 2022.
  • European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) – 28th Congress, Seville, Spain – June, 2022.
  • Goodbye Flat Biology Conference, Berlin, Germany – November, 2019.
  • AACR Pancreatic Cancer: Advances in Science and Clinical Care, Boston, USA – September, 2019.
  • Gordon Research Conference, Pancreatic Diseases, Maine, USA –June, 2019.
  • Cancer Metabolism and Signalling, New York Academy of Sciences, New York, USA – May, 2019.
  • EASL HCC Summit, Geneva, Switzerland – March, 2018.
  • The International Liver Congress, Amsterdam, The Netherlands – April, 2017.
  • EASL HCC Summit, Geneva, Switzerland – February, 2017.
  • Future Perspectives in Hepatology: from Basics to Clinics, University Hospital Essen, Germany – January, 2017.
  • Translational Cancer Metabolism Conference, Bilbao, Spain – October, 2016.
  • Cancer and Metabolism Conference, Cambridge, UK – September, 2015.
  • International Conference on Systems Biology of Human Disease, Heidelberg, Germany – July, 2015.
  • European Association for Cancer Research (EACR) – 23rd Congress, Munich, Germany – July, 2014.

Selected Abstracts (*presenter)

  1. Nwosu ZC, et al. Uridine-to-ribose axis supports glucose-restricted pancreatic cancer. AACR Special Conference in Cancer: Pancreatic Cancer, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, September 27-30, 2023.
  2. Nwosu ZC, et al. Uridine-to-ribose axis supports glucose-restricted pancreatic cancer. 2nd JCA-AACR Precision Cancer Medicine International Conference, Kyoto, Japan, June 28-30, 2023.
  3. Zeribe C. Nwosu, Matthew H. Ward, Chesta Jain, Verodia Charlestin, Daeho D. Kim, Andrew Yang, Maya Nassif, Nneka Mbah, Peter Sajjakulnukit, Anthony Andren, Li Zhang, Marina Pasca di Magliano, Costas A. Lyssiotis. Cysteine metabolism is an exploitable therapeutic vulnerability in pancreatic cancer. 2022 Keystone Symposium on Tumor Immunometabolism, Colorado, USA. September 5-8, 2022.
  4. *Yaqing Zhang, Kristee L Brown, Wei Yan, Zeribe C. Nwosu, Eileen K Carpenter, Katelyn L Donahue, Ashley Velez-Delgado, Sion Yang, Marina Pasca di Magliano. Ablation of CCR1 relieves immunosuppression in pancreatic cancer. Cancer Immunology Research 10 (1 Supplement), P053-P053. 2022 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Meeting.
  5. *Y Li, W Piorońska, Z Nwosu, W Fan, MPA Ebert, S Dooley, S Wang. Downregulation of ECM1 in hepatocytes as a damage response to liver injury. Zeitschrift für Gastroenterologie 60 (01), P 1.20. 2022 German Association of the Study of Liver (GASL) Meeting.
  6. *Rosa E Menjivar, Zeribe Nwosu, Wenting Du, Katelyn Donahue, Carlos Espinoza, Ashley Velez-Delgado, Kristee Brown, Wei Yan, Christopher Halbrook, Yaqing Zhang, Costas Lyssiotis, Marina Pasca di Magliano. Deletion of Arginase 1 in myeloid cells alters the pancreatic cancer microenvironment. Cancer Research 81 (22 Supplement), PO-129-PO-129. 2021 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Meeting.
  7. *Yaqing Zhang, Kristee L Brown, Wei Yan, Zeribe C. Nwosu, Eileen K Carpenter, Katelyn L Donahue, Ashley Velez-Delgado, Sion Yang, Marina Pasca di Magliano. Targeting CCR1 reprograms tumor associated macrophages in pancreatic cancer. Cancer Research 81 (22 Supplement), PO-116-PO-116. 2021 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Meeting.
  8. Zeribe C. Nwosu, Heather Giza, Maya Nassif, Verodia Charlestin, Rosa Menjivar, Daeho Kim, Samantha Kemp, Nina Steele, Costas A. Lyssiotis, Marina Pasca di Magliano. Identification of high priority genes for basic and translational pancreatic cancer research. AACR Annual Meeting, Virtual, April 10-15, 2021. In: Proceedings of the AACR Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr NG02. doi 10.1158/1538-7445.AM2021-NG02.
  9. Zeribe C. Nwosu, Matthew H. Ward, Peter Sajjakulnukit, Li Zhang, Marina Pasca di Magliano, Costas A. Lyssiotis. A roadmap for targeting cysteine dependency in a subset of pancreatic cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Pancreatic Cancer: Advances in Science and Clinical Care; Sept 6-9 2019; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(24 Suppl):Abstract Nr C36. doi: 10.1158/1538-7445.panca19-c36.
  10. Nwosu ZC, Lyssiotis CA, Pasca di Magliano, M. Identification of altered immune signatures and nutrient transporters in pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Abstract #37, Gordon Research Conference on Pancreatic Diseases, 16 – 21 June 2019, Newry, Maine; also presented at the Cancer Metab. & Signaling Conference, New York Academy of Sci, 8 May, 2019.
  11. Nwosu ZC, *Piorońska W, Ebert MP, Meyer C, Dooley S. Glutamine deprivation link impaired metabolism to ERK pathway activation and drug resistance in liver cancer. GASL Meeting, 22-23 February 2019, Heidelberg, Germany.
  12. *Piorońska W, Nwosu ZC, Ebert MP, Dooley S, Meyer C. PRRX1 cooperate with ZEB1/ZEB2 in hepatocellular carcinoma. 35th German Association for the Study of the Liver (GASL) Annual Meeting, Heidelberg, February 22-23, 2019. Z Gastroenterol 2019; 57(01): e68.
  13. *Han M, Nwosu Z, Piorońska W, Ebert M, Dooley S, Meyer C. Hepatocyte-specific caveolin-1 in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis mouse models (EASL NAFLD Summit, 20 – 22 Sept, 2018, Geneva, Switzerland. 
  14. Nwosu ZC, et al. Liver cancer cell lines distinctly reflect the metabolic gene expression pattern observed in clinical microarrays. EASL HCC Summit, ePoster No. P07-04YI, 1 – 3 March 2018, Geneva, Switzerland.
  15. *Piorońska W, Nwosu ZC, Ebert MP, Dooley S, Meyer C. Expression and functions of PRRX1 in hepatocellular carcinoma. DGVS Viszeralmedizin 2018, 12 – 15 September, Munich, Germany.
  16. Nwosu ZC, et al. Distinct features of early and late-stage liver cancer cells correlate with their response to metabolic perturbation. EASL HCC Summit, ePoster No. P01.11-YI, 2 – 5 February 2017, Geneva, Switzerland (also presented at the International Liver Congress, Abstract Nr. ILC2017-RS-3690, Poster Nr. SAT-129, 19 – 23 April 2017, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
  17. Nwosu ZC, et al. Involvement of Caveolin-1 in liver cancer metabolism. Falk Foundation Workshop on “Future Perspectives in Hepatology: from Basics to Clinics”. 19 – 20 January 2017. Abstract Nr. 20, University Hospital Essen, Germany.
  18. Nwosu ZC, et al. Metabolic targets of potential clinical significance in liver cancer. Translational Cancer Metabolism Conference, Abstract Nr. P-79, October 4 – 6, 2016, Bilbao, Spain.
  19. Nwosu ZC, et al. Modulation of glutaminolysis expose novel genomic mediators of liver cancer progression. European Society for Clinical Investigation. 50th Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Society for Clinical Investigation, 27 – 29 April 2016, Paris, France.
  20. *Dooley S, et al. Metabolic alterations of clinical significance in liver cancer. Cold Spring Harbor Asia. Conference on Liver Diseases and Tumorigenesis: from Bench to Bedside. 25-29 April, 2016 Suzhuo, China.
  21. Nwosu ZC, et al. Glutamine metabolism is critical for liver cancer progression. Abcam Cancer and Metabolism Conference, Poster Nr. 72, 28 – 30 September 2015, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
  22. Nwosu ZC, et al. TGFβ and LPS-induced metabolic alterations as potential driver of hepatic stellate cell activation. International Conference on Systems Biology of Human Disease, Heidelberg, Abstract Nr. A203, 6 – 8 July, 2015, Germany.
  23. Nwosu Z. Glutamine metabolism support hepatocellular carcinogenesis. Speaker Abstract T7. 4th Heidelberg Forum for Young Life Scientists. 21 – 22nd May 2015. DKFZ, Heidelberg, Germany.
  24. Nwosu ZC, Dooley S, Meyer C. Unravelling the role of Caveolin-1 in metabolic reprogramming during hepatocellular carcinogenesis. European Association for Cancer Research 23 Congress, Abstract Nr. EACR-0230, 5 – 8 July, 2014, Munich, Germany.
Google Scholar

Others

Spotlight: Meet our Faculty – Zeribe Nwosu | 2024. READ HERE

Let’s Win Pancreatic Cancer highlight on promising researchers leading the charge in cancer treatment advancement | 2023. READ HERE

Career Panelist – One Day Closer | March 19 2022. This exciting program run by the Rogel Cancer Center, University of Michigan, with the goal of inspiring High/Secondary School students toward undertaking a cancer research career. READ HERE

Co-Editor, 2020 – Molecular and Integrative Physiology Newsletter: READ HERE

World Cancer Research Day 2019 – “Thank you to everyone contributing to the continuity of cancer research”: READ HERE