Nicolaos J. Palaskas, MD, PhD

Dr. Nicolaos J. Palaskas' primary interest is in tumor metabolism, with particular focus on the intersection of iron and phospholipid metabolism. Deregulation of iron and phospholipids leads to ferroptosis, a newly discovered form of cell death resulting from cell membrane damage. He is interested in understanding how external cues interact with the genetic makeup of cells to shape membrane lipid composition and how this affects targeting by the immune system and sensitivity to ferroptosis-inducing agents and other therapeutics.

Kostaras, E., Kaserer, T., Lazaro, G., Heuss, S. F., Hussain, A., Casado, P., Hayes, A., Yandim, C., Palaskas, N., Yu, Y., Schwartz, B., Raynaud, F., Chung, Y.-L., Cutillas, P. R., & Vivanco, I. (2020). A systematic molecular and pharmacologic evaluation of AKT inhibitors reveals new insight into their biological activity. British Journal of Cancer. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41416-020-0889-4

Palaskas, N. J., Garcia, J. D., Shirazi, R., Shin, D. S., Puig-Saus, C., Braas, D., Ribas, A., & Graeber, T. G. (2019). Global alteration of T-lymphocyte metabolism by PD-L1 checkpoint involves a block of de novo nucleoside phosphate synthesis. Cell Discovery, 5, 62. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41421-019-0130-x

Shin, D. S., Zaretsky, J. M., Escuin-Ordinas, H., Garcia-Diaz, A., Hu-Lieskovan, S., Kalbasi, A., Grasso, C. S., Hugo, W., Sandoval, S., Torrejon, D. Y., Palaskas, N., Rodriguez, G. A., Parisi, G., Azhdam, A., Chmielowski, B., Cherry, G., Seja, E., Berent-Maoz, B., Shintaku, I. P., … Ribas, A. (2017). Primary Resistance to PD-1 Blockade Mediated by JAK1/2 Mutations. Cancer Discovery, 7(2), 188–201. https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-16-1223

Tsoi, J., Robert, L., Paraiso, K., Galvan, C., Sheu, K. M., Lay, J., Wong, D. J. L., Atefi, M., Shirazi, R., Wang, X., Braas, D., Grasso, C. S., Palaskas, N., Ribas, A., & Graeber, T. G. (2018). Multi-stage Differentiation Defines Melanoma Subtypes with Differential Vulnerability to Drug-Induced Iron-Dependent Oxidative Stress. Cancer Cell. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2018.03.017

Grommes, C., Pastore, A., Palaskas, N., Tang, S. S., Campos, C., Schartz, D., Codega, P., Nichol, D., Clark, O., Hsieh, W.-Y., Rohle, D., Rosenblum, M., Viale, A., Tabar, V. S., Brennan, C. W., Gavrilovic, I. T., Kaley, T. J., Nolan, C. P., Omuro, A., … Mellinghoff, I. K. (2017). Ibrutinib Unmasks Critical Role of Bruton Tyrosine Kinase in Primary CNS Lymphoma. Cancer Discovery, 7(9), 1018–1029. https://doi.org/10.1158/2159-8290.CD-17-0613