Weifan Dong
A5028891523- RNA Research and Splicing
- MicroRNA in disease regulation
- Erythrocyte Function and Pathophysiology
- Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Cancer Cells and Metastasis
- Neuroscience and Neural Engineering
- Cellular Mechanics and Interactions
- Ion channel regulation and function
- Genomics and Chromatin Dynamics
- Advanced biosensing and bioanalysis techniques
- Renal and related cancers
- Caveolin-1 and cellular processes
- Cell Image Analysis Techniques
- Glioma Diagnosis and Treatment
- RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
- Advanced Memory and Neural Computing
- Micro and Nano Robotics
- Microtubule and mitosis dynamics
- Advanced Electron Microscopy Techniques and Applications
- Cancer-related molecular mechanisms research
- Cancer-related gene regulation
- RNA regulation and disease
- RNA modifications and cancer
- Computational Drug Discovery Methods
- 14-3-3 protein interactions
University of Toronto
1994-2025
SickKids Foundation
2018-2025
Hospital for Sick Children
2018-2025
University of Pennsylvania
2024-2025
Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
1994
Ontario Institute for Cancer Research
1994
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive primary brain cancer. Despite multimodal treatment including surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, median patient survival has remained at ~15 months for decades. This situation demands an outside-the-box approach. Using magnetic carbon nanotubes (mCNTs) precision field control, we report a mechanical approach to treat chemoresistant GBM. We show that GBM cells internalize mCNTs, mobilization of which by rotating results in cell death....
Glioblastoma (GBM), a universally fatal brain cancer, infiltrates the and can be synaptically innervated by neurons, which drives tumor progression 1-6 . Synaptic inputs onto GBM cells identified so far are largely short-range glutamatergic 7-9 The extent of integration into brain-wide neuronal circuitry is not well understood. Here we applied rabies virus-mediated retrograde monosynaptic tracing approach 10-12 to systematically investigate circuit human organoids transplanted adult mice. We...
Ion channels, transporters, and other ion-flux controlling proteins, collectively comprising the "ion permeome", are common drug targets, however, their roles in cancer remain understudied. Our integrative pan-cancer transcriptome analysis shows that genes encoding ion permeome significantly more often highly expressed specific subsets of samples, compared to pan-transcriptome expectations. To enable target selection, we identified 410 survival-associated IP 33 types using a machine-learning...
Ion channels represent a large class of drug targets, but their role in brain cancer is underexplored. Here, we identify that chloride intracellular channel 1 (CLIC1) overexpressed human central nervous system malignancies, including medulloblastoma, common pediatric cancer. While global knockout does not overtly affect mouse development, genetic deletion CLIC1 suppresses medulloblastoma growth xenograft and genetically engineered models. Mechanistically, enriches to the plasma membrane...
The Kit gene encodes for a transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptor that is expressed during early hematopoiesis and in large proportion of blast cells patients with acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML). Tissue culture studies have revealed the growth factor recognized by protein stimulator both colony formation self renewal AML cells. During an analysis we identified two different RNA transcripts differing 12 nucleotides just 5′ encoding region. Analysis variety tissues forms are all produce...
ABSTRACT Ion channels, transporters, and other ion-permeating proteins, collectively comprising the ion permeome (IP), are common drug targets. However, their roles in cancer understudied. Our integrative pan-cancer analysis shows that IP genes display highly-elevated expression patterns subsets of samples significantly more often than expected transcriptome-wide. To enable target identification, we identified 410 survival-associated 29 types using a machine learning approach. Notably, GJB2...
Abstract Glioblastoma (GBM), a deadly brain cancer, infiltrates the and can be synaptically innervated by neurons. Synaptic inputs onto GBM cells identified so far are largely short-range glutamatergic in nature. The extent of integration into brain-wide neuronal circuitry is therefore not well understood. We report application transsynaptic viral tracing approaches to study connectome GBM. applied rabies virus-mediated retrograde herpes simplex virus (HSV)-mediated anterograde characterize...
Abstract Two major obstacles in brain cancer treatment are the blood-tumor barrier (BTB) and quiescent tumor cells. Here we show that Sox2+ cells directly project cellular processes to ensheathe capillaries medulloblastoma (MB), a process depends on mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo2. MB develops tissue stiffness gradient as function of distance capillaries. perceive substrate sustain local intracellular calcium, actomyosin tension, adhesion promote growth cell surface sequestration...
ABSTRACT The identification of cancer maintenance genes—driver genes essential to tumor survival—is fundamental for developing effective therapy. Transposon-based insertional mutagenesis screens can identify driver broadly but not discriminate from progression or initiation drivers, which contribute phenotypes and tumorigenesis, respectively. We engineered a nested, double-jumping transposon system first dysregulate gene expression during tumorigenesis then restore following induction,...
Abstract Glioblastomas (GBMs) are the most aggressive brain tumors. GBM cells form extensive tumoral networks to communicate with each other and surrounding neurons. Neuronal activity promotes cell proliferation by secreting protumorigenic factors triggering neuronal-activity-dependent Ca2+ transients, which persisted transmitted via tumor promote overall growth therapy resistance. While how these processes regulated is largely unknown. Here we show transients a voltage-gated potassium...
Abstract Two major obstacles in brain cancer treatment are the blood-tumor barrier (BTB), which restricts delivery of most therapeutic agents, and quiescent tumor-initiating cells (BTICs), evade cell cycle-targeting chemotherapy. Mechanosensation, transduction mechanical cues into cellular signaling, underlies physiological processes such as touch, pain, proprioception, hearing, respiration, epithelial homeostasis, vascular lymphatic development. We report that medulloblastoma (MB) BTICs...