De Tomaso Lab
Principal Investigator: Anthony W De Tomaso
Institution: University of California, Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
Metastases cause 90% of cancer deaths, and can occur years to decades after eradication of the primary tumor. This is due to the remarkable ability of cancer stem cells to migrate to different tissues and transition into a dormant state, providing protection from cytotoxic therapies. Both cell intrinsic processes, as well as extrinsic signals from surrounding cells and the extracellular matrix (the niche), instruct stem cell dormancy, but the nature of these signals and the mechanisms that allow a cell to survive in a dormant state are not understood. Years later, dormant metastatic cells can awaken, but the signals regulating their re-activation are also not understood. In addition, in long-lived organisms, populations of tissue stem cells maintain themselves in a quiescent state, yet remain poised to re- activate when needed. Understanding these mechanisms have major implications for studies in both homeostatic and injury-induced tissue regeneration, and how they are dysregulated in disease and ageing. A major limitation in dissecting these processes is the absence of a system that provides the opportunity to experimentally trigger the induction and exit from a dormant state. We…
Active NIH Awards
- 1R21OD042617-01: Reversible stem cell dormancy in the basal chordate, Botrylloides diegensis (2026)
- 5R35GM139649-05: Allorecognition, parasitic stem cells and regeneration in a basal chordate (2025)
- 5R35GM139649-04: Allorecognition, parasitic stem cells and regeneration in a basal chordate (2024)
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