Possible Rotation Projects:
Time-lapse imaging of cell fate decisions in ovarian cancer
Cell cycle plasticity in breast cancer progression, metastasis and treatment
Influence of the tumor microenvironment on cancer cell proliferation and arrest
Training Technologies Used:
- Highly-multiplexed imaging
- Time-lapse imaging of fluorescent biosensors
Yian Yang, Anuraag Bukkuri, Dante Poe, Janet McLaughlin, Sihan Hao, Daniel D. Brown, Katarzyna M. Kedziora, Wayne Stallaert. Distinct p21 dynamics drive alternative routes to whole-genome duplication through a common CDK4/6-dependent polyploid G0 state. bioRxiv (2026) Preprint
Anuraag Bukkuri, Janet McLaughlin, Andrew W Duncan, Wayne Stallaert. Life History Enlightened Therapies: Cell Cycle Mapping to Identify Molecular Targets to Prevent Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, eoag002 (2026) Full text
STALLAERT W, Taylor SR, Kedziora KM, Taylor CD, Sobon HS, Young CL, Limas JC, Holloway JV, Cook JG & Purvis JE (2022). The molecular architecture of cell cycle arrest. Molecular Systems Biology 18(9):e11087.
STALLAERT W, Kedziora KM, Taylor CD, Zikry TM, Ranek JS, Sobon HS, Taylor SR, Young CL, Cook JG & Purvis JE (2022). The structure of the human cell cycle. Cell Systems, 13(3): 230-240.
STALLAERT W, Kedziora KM, Chao HX & Purvis JE (2019). Bistable switches as integrators and actuators during cell cycle progression. FEBS letters 593(20): 2805-2816.
STALLAERT W, Brüggemann Y, Sabet O, Baak L & Bastiaens PIH (2018). Contact inhibitory Eph signaling suppresses EGF-promoted cell migration by decoupling EGFR activity from vesicular recycling. Science Signaling, 11(541).
I am fascinated by the plasticity of the cell cycle and its extraordinary capacity to adapt to changes in the environment or genome. Resolving this diversity in cell cycle regulation is key to fully understanding biological problems ranging from development and regeneration to inflammation, aging and cancer, where the decisions of when and where to trigger cell division are of paramount importance. My lab combines advanced single-cell imaging and computational approaches to study cell cycle plasticity in its natural habitat: embedded within a complex, multicellular environment. Using patient-derived tissues and organoids, we investigate the contribution of cell cycle plasticity in tumorigenesis and cancer drug resistance, and how the spatial organization of a tumor shapes a cancer cell’s decision to proliferate or arrest.
