Welcome to the Mercurio Laboratory in the Department of Molecular, Cell, and Cancer Biology at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School.
We are a talented group of molecular cell biologists interested in understanding the mechanisms that contribute to the initiation and progression of carcinomas and exploiting these mechanisms to improve prognosis and therapy.
Currently, we are focused on identifying mechanisms that enable carcinoma cells, especially metastatic cells, to evade ferroptosis, a form of cell death caused by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation of cell membranes. Other projects include investigating the role of VEGF signaling in carcinomas cells mediated by neuropilin-2, a pathway that we have shown is amenable to therapeutic intervention and pursuing how specific integrins expressed by carcinoma cells contribute to evasion of the immune system.
About Our Research
Our laboratory focuses on understanding the molecular pathways that regulate the progression of carcinomas and using this information to improve therapy. We have a particular interest in mechanisms that enable their survival in hostile microenvironments and their interactions with the immune system.
Our Team
The Mercurio Lab is part of the Department of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. Work in our laboratory is supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute.
Find out more about Dr. Mercurio and his research team: