Allen Xiaofeng Su Ph.D.

Education

B.S. University of Science and Technology of China (2008)
Ph.D. Tufts University (2016)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2021)

Biography

Research Focuses
Oncology, translational sciences, cancer therapy and biomarkers, genomic instability and aneuploidy, DNA damage repair, replication stress, cancer metabolism, new cancer in vitro and in vivo models.

Research Projects
Dr. Su's laboratory focuses on how genomic instability and tumor-specific aneuploidy influences cancer development using prostate cancer as a main cancer model. The lab is interested in understanding a fundamental question of why certain chromosomes were frequently gained or lost during cancer development. Three projects are ongoing in his lab: (1) Elucidate the mechanisms of novel aneuploidy-associated genes (such as the cohesin gene RAD21 and the squalene synthesis gene, SQLE) in driving the aggressiveness of prostate cancers. (2) Understand the roles of patient-specific alterations in DNA damage repair genes in influencing cancer disparities and treatment. (3) Develop novel ex vivo model and pharmacological molecules identify cancer vulnerabilities. (4) Understand tumor progression and microenvironment using spatial and single-cell profiling technologies. The overarching goal is to provide implications for therapeutic targets in prostate and other cancers.

Awards and Honors
Koch Institute Image Award (2022)
DeLill Nasser Award for Professional Development in Genetics (2021)
Jane Coffin Childs Postdoctoral Fellowship Award (2018-2020)
AACR (America Association for Cancer Research) Scholar-in-Training Award (2019)
Koch Institute Marlena Felter Bradford Research Travel Fellowship (2019)
The Ludwig Postdoctoral Fellowship Award (2017)
GRS/GRC Travel Award for Invited Speaker (2016)
American Society of Biochem. and Mol. Biology (ASBMB) Best Thematic Poster Award (2015)
Tufts University Graduate Student Research Award (2012)
iGEM Best Foundational Technology, Finalist and Gold Medal, MIT (2007)

Publications
(1) Sumaira Sardar, Christopher M. McNair, Lakshmi Ravindranath, Saswati N. Chand, Wei Yuan, Denisa Bogdan, Jon Welti, Adam Sharp, Natalie K. Ryan, Liam A. Knudsen, Matthew J. Schiewer, Elise G. DeArment, Thomas Janas, Xiaofeng A. Su, Lisa M. Butler, Johann S. de Bono, Kris Frese, Nigel Brooks, Neil Pegg, Karen E. Knudsen & Ayesha A. Shafi. AR coactivators, CBP/p300, are critical mediators of DNA repair in prostate cancer. Oncogene. 2024 Sep 13. Epub ahead of print.
(2) Xiaofeng A. Su*, Konrad H. Stopsack, Daniel R. Schmidt, Duanduan Ma, Zhe Li, Paul A. Scheet, Kathryn L. Penney, Tamara L. Lotan, Wassim Abida, Elise G. DeArment, Kate Lu, Thomas Janas, Matthew G. Vander Heiden, Massimo Loda, Monica Boselli, Angelika Amon, Lorelei A. Mucci. “RAD21 promotes oncogenesis and lethal progression of prostate cancer.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) 2024; Sep 3;121(36):e2405543121. *Corresponding author
(3) Brian T. Do, Peggy P. Hsu, Sidney Y. Vermeulen, Zhishan Wang, Taghreed Hirz, Keene L. Abbott, Najihah Aziz, Joseph M. Replogle, Stefan Bjelosevic, Jonathan Paolino, Samantha Nelson, Samuel Block, Alicia M. Darnell, Raphael Ferreira, Henry Zhang, Jelena Milosevic, Daniel R. Schmidt, Christopher Chidley, Isaac S. Harris, Jonathan S. Weissman, Yana Pikman, Kimberly Stegmaier, Sihem Cheloufi, Xiaofeng A. Su, David B. Sykes, Matthew G. Vander Heiden. “Nucleotide depletion promotes cell fate transitions by inducing DNA replication stress.” Developmental Cell, 2024 May 30:S1534-5807(24)00327-7
(4) Yuming Wang, Boya Gao, Luyuan Zhang, Xudong Wang, Xiaolan Zhu, Haibo Yang, Fengqi Zhang, Xueping Zhu, Badi Zhou, Sean Yao, Aiko Nagayama, Sanghoon Lee, Jian Ouyang, Siang-Boon Koh, Eric L. Eisenhauer, Dominique Zarrella, Kate Lu, Bo R. Rueda, Lee Zou, Xiaofeng A. Su, Olapadpo Yeku, Lief W. Ellisen, Xiao-Song Wang, Li Lan. “Meiotic protein SYCP2 confers resistance to DNA-damaging agents through R-loop-mediated DNA repair.” Nature Communications. 2024 Feb 21;15(1):1568.
(5) Konrad Stopsack, Xiaofeng A. Su, Jane Vaselkiv, Rebecca Graff, Ericka Ebot, Andreas Pettersson, Rosina Lis, Michelangelo Fiorentino, Massimo Loda, Kathryn Penney, Tamara Lotan, and Lorelei Mucci. “Transcriptomes of Prostate Cancer with TMPRSS2:ERG and Other ETS Fusions.” Mol Cancer Res. 2023 Jan 3;21(1):14-23.
(6) Rebecca E. Brown^, Xiaofeng A. Su^, Stacey Fair, Katherine Wu, Lauren Verra, Robyn Jong, Kristin Andrykovich, Catherine H. Freudenreich*. "THO and TRAMP complexes prevent transcription-replication conflicts, DNA breaks, and CAG repeat contraction" PLoS Biology. 2022: 20(12): e3001940. ^co-first author.
(7)Marianna Trakala, Muskaan Aggarwal, Courtney Sniffen, Lauren Zasadil, Allison Carroll, Duanduan Ma, Xiaofeng A. Su, Darawalee Wangsa, Ashleigh Meyer, Pei-hsin Hsu, Glenn Paradis, Thomas Ried, Andrew Holland, Jan Van Deursen and Angelika Amon. “Clonal selection of stable aneuploidies in progenitor cells drives high-prevalence tumorigenesis” Genes and Development. 2021 Jul 15. 35: 1079-1092.
(8) Xiaofeng A. Su*, Duanduan Ma, James V. Parsons JV, John M. Replogle, James F. Amatruda, Charles A. Whittaker, Kimberly Stegmaier K, Angelika Amon. “RAD21 is a driver of chromosome 8 gain in Ewing sarcoma to mitigate replication stress.” Genes and Development. 2021 Mar 25. 35: 556-572. *Corresponding Author
(9) Melissa R. Koch, Nealia C. M. House, Casey M. Cosetta, Robyn M. Jong, Christelle G. Salomon, Cailin E. Joyce, Elliot A. Philips, Xiaofeng A. Su and Catherine H. Freudenreich. “The Chromatin Remodeler Isw1 Prevents CAG Repeat Expansions During Transcription in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.” Genetics. 2018;208(3):963‐976.
(10) Xiaofeng A. Su and Catherine H. Freudenreich. “Cytosine deamination and base excision repair cause R-loop-induced CAG repeat fragility and instability in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS). 2017;114(40): E8392-E8401.
(11) Catherine H. Freudenreich and Xiaofeng A. Su. “Relocalization of DNA lesions to the nuclear pore complex.” FEMS Yeast Research. 2016 Oct 30; 16(8).
(12) Xiaofeng A. Su, Vincent Dion, Susan M. Gasser and Catherine H. Freudenreich. “Regulation of recombination at yeast nuclear pores controls repair and triplet repeat stability.” Genes and Development. 2015 May 15;29(10):1006-17 (featured on the cover).
(13) Kaifeng Liu, Andrea Vergani, Picheng Zhao, Ben Nasr Moufida, Xiao Wu, Khadija Iken, Dawei Jiang, Xiaofeng Su, Carmen Fotino, PaoloFiorina, Gary A Visner. “Inhibition of the Purinergic Pathway Prolongs Mouse Lung Allograft Survival.” American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology, Vol.51, No.2 (2014).
(14) Jian Zhan, Bo Ding, Rui Ma, Xiaoyu, Ma, Xiaofeng Su, Yun Zhao, Ziqing Liu, Jiarui Wu and Haiyan Liu. “Develop reusable and combinable designs for transcriptional logic gates.” Mol. Systems Biology, 2010, 6:388.

Representative Bibliography