Panagiotis Ntziachristos

The Ntziachristos laboratory studies the mechanistic aspects of oncogenesis with an emphasis on transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of acute leukemia. Up to 25% of children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia will fail frontline therapy and their prognosis is dismal. Cure rates for patients relapsing on therapy are approximate 20%. While patients with later relapses have a better prognosis, the majority eventually succumbs to the disease (overall cure rate 40 to 50%). Important questions in our laboratory are related to how oncogenes interact with each other and with epigenetic modulators to influence gene expression programs as well as how their function is related to tri- dimensional (3D) structure of the nucleus and other biological aspects of cancer cells, like metabolism. To address these questions we use high-throughput molecular and cell biology techniques like ChIP-Seq, RNA-Seq, 4C-Seq and HiC, fluorescent in situ hybridization, biochemical analysis e.t.c. in cell lines and primary cells of human origin and tissues of mouse models of disease. In addition to understanding cancer biology these finding help us design and test targeted therapies in preclinical models of leukemia.