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Kate O'Donnell

@kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social
149 followers 199 following 39 posts

Scientist in the Department of Molecular Biology at UT Southwestern Medical Center. We investigate mechanisms of tumorigenesis. labs.utsouthwestern.edu/odonnell-lab

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Reposted by Kate O'Donnell
Worboys Lab @worboyslab.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
How does the immune checkpoint TIGIT know when to inhibit a T cell? Our new research suggests the answer is logic: TIGIT needs both its ligand, CD155, and TCR stimulation to signal. A short summary 🧵
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Congratulations Katherine!!
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Congratulations Trudy, Luke, & team! This is fascinating new biology and a fun collaboration! This work provides new insight into the lineage plasticity underlying intratumoral heterogeneity that may lead to new therapeutic strategies in LUSC.
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Reposted by Kate O'Donnell
Trudy G. Oliver @tgoliver.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Excited that this story is now published at @theaacr.bsky.social Cancer Research! #Squamous tumors have transcriptional heterogeneity that resembles normal lung cell states, including a lowly-dividing stress-resistant KRT13+ #hillock-like state driven by KLF4. aacrjournals.org/cancerres/ar...
aacrjournals.org
KLF4 Promotes a KRT13+ Hillock-Like State in Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Abstract. Lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) is a basal-like subtype of lung cancer with limited treatment options. While prior studies have identified tumor-propagating cell states in squamous tumor...
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Reposted by Kate O'Donnell
Karolin Luger @nucleosomepolice.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Please share this gift article from The New York Times with friends, family, sceptics, and People who think that studying weird things is a waste of money. Then follow up with meaningful discussion about what I call 'free range science'. Free without subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/06/20/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Science That Turned Lizard Venom Into GLP-1s Is Under Attack
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Therefore, these mAbs could potentially benefit patients with multiple tumor types in addition to lung cancer./end
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
While our work has focused on the role of PCDH7 in lung cancer, PCDH7 is highly expressed in several other tumor types including pancreatic cancer, melanoma, & prostate cancers. PCDH7 has also been shown by others to promote brain metastasis.
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Here we show that a humanized antibody exhibited antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity and Fc-mediated immune effector killing of tumor cells. A murinized antibody improved anti-tumor immunity in mice by enhancing tumor infiltration & activation of cytotoxic immune cells.
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
We also previously demonstrated, using both gain- and loss-of-function approaches, that PCDH7 accelerates mutant KRAS-driven lung cancer in mouse models, providing strong rationale for the development of a PCDH7-targeting therapeutic antibody (Zhou et al, Mol Cancer Res, 2019).
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
We’ve had a long-standing interest in investigating oncogenic cell surface proteins in lung cancer due to their potential as novel therapeutic targets. We first identified PCDH7 in an unbiased forward genetic screen as a novel driver of NSCLC (Zhou et al, Cancer Research, 2017).
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Very proud of 1st author Nicole Novaresi who led this study. We thank ALL of our outstanding collaborators, and we are grateful for the support from NIH, CPRIT, V Foundation, DOD, Welch Foundation, and ALA.
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
These new findings provide an important advance in the clinical development of PCDH7-targeting antibodies for lung cancer treatment.
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
We show that a humanized PCDH7 antibody (mAb7) sensitizes KRASG12C mutant cells to the clinically-approved KRAS inhibitor adagrasib. mAb7 inhibits tumor growth alone and in combination with KRAS inhibitors, and in the setting of KRAS inhibitor resistance.
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Excited to share our latest study published in Science Advances. With the An & Zhang labs at @uthealthhouston.bsky.social, we show that monoclonal antibodies targeting PCDH7 inhibit tumor growth and enhance immune responses in multiple KRAS-mutant lung cancer models. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
science.org
Monoclonal antibodies targeting PCDH7 inhibit tumor growth and enhance immune responses in KRAS-mutant non–small cell lung cancer
Antibody targeting of PCDH7 inhibits tumor growth, enhances KRAS-targeted therapy response, and directs tumor immunosurveillance.
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
We celebrated Hari’s graduation as he moves on to start a postdoc with J. William Harbour. Good luck Hari!
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Congratulations Dr. Hari Shankar Sunil! #ProudPI
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Reposted by Kate O'Donnell
Walter W. Chen, MD, PhD @walterwchen.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Thrilled to share that I’ll be starting my lab as an Assistant Professor and Endowed Scholar in the UT Southwestern Molecular Biology Dept this Fall! 🥳 We’ll study #peroxisomes #mitochondria #metabolism via the lens of neonatology 👶🏻, a very exciting frontier in medicine! #neotwitter
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Reposted by Kate O'Donnell
Barbara Marte @barbmarte.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
new out in Nature www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Ageing promotes metastasis via activation of the integrated stress response - Nature
Ageing reprograms the evolutionary trajectory of KRAS-driven lung adenocarcinoma, limiting primary tumour growth while promoting metastatic dissemination through epigenetic activation of the integrate...
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Reposted by Kate O'Donnell
Debbie Caswell @caswelldrm.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Our lab is hiring! This is for a postdoctoral position @ucl.ac.uk in Respiratory Medicine. Please check out the link for more details: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
ucl.ac.uk
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Congratulations Josh and Fred!!
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Congratulations Josh, Collette, and all coauthors!🎉
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Reposted by Kate O'Donnell
Trudy G. Oliver @tgoliver.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
Congrats to Kate and Hari for a very nice story and wonderful collaboration! TMPRSS11B is a target of KLF4 and part of a chemo-refractory hillock-like state we see in squamous lung cancer. This gene contributes to acidified TME. More coming on the hillock state after addressing FIVE reviewers! 👇🏼
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
And check out exciting new work from the Oliver lab @tgoliver.bsky.social showing that KLF4 promotes a KRT13+hillock-like state in squamous lung cancer👇: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
KLF4 promotes a KRT13+ hillock-like state in squamous lung cancer
Lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC) is basal-like subtype of lung cancer with limited treatment options. While prior studies have identified tumor-propagating cell states in squamous tumors, the broad...
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Finally, we are grateful for our funding sources: DoD, ALA, CPRIT, NCI, Welch Foundation, and V Foundation.
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
This work was led by my student Hari Shankar Sunil (who defended his thesis last week and is now officially Dr. Sunil). Special THANKS to all our AMAZING collaborators: Trudy Oliver @tgoliver.bsky.social, Jinming Gao, Tae Hyun Hwang, Ralph DeBerardinis @rjdlab.bsky.social, John Minna, et al.
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Collectively, our results demonstrate that TMPRSS11B promotes an acidified and immunosuppressive microenvironment. This work also nominates this enzyme as a promising therapeutic target in squamous lung cancer.
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Utilizing ultra-pH-sensitive nanoparticle imaging and in vivo metabolite analysis, we identify regions of acidification, elevated lactate, and enrichment of immunosuppressive macrophages in LUSC tumors.
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
RNA FISH and spatial transcriptomics in the Rosa26-Sox2-Ires-GfpLSL/LSL; Nkx2-1fl/fl; Lkb1fl/fl (SNL) model reveal an enrichment of Tmprss11b expression in lung squamous tumors (LUSCs), specifically in Krt13+ hillock-like cells.
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
In our new study, we show that TMPRSS11B depletion reduces tumor burden and triggers an infiltration of immune cells in immunocompetent mice.
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
We initially identified TMPRSS11B in a Sleeping Beauty transposon mutagenesis screen (PMID:30463017). Our prior work showed that TMPRSS11B promotes the transformation of human bronchial epithelial cells and enhances lactate export from human lung squamous cell carcinoma cells.
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
I am pleased to present a new paper from my lab led by Hari Shankar Sunil showing that the transmembrane serine protease TMPRSS11B promotes an acidified tumor microenvironment and immune suppression in squamous lung cancer, OUT NOW in EMBO Reports👇: embopress.org/doi/full/10....
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
Congratulations to all the awardees - but especially my husband Joshua Mendell on this well-deserved recognition. VERY proud!!! 🎉
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Congratulations Trudy and Abbie, et al! Beautiful work!
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Reposted by Kate O'Donnell
Trudy G. Oliver @tgoliver.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
Super pleased to announce our latest suggesting the cell of origin for #SCLC is most likely the basal cell @nature.com, not the accepted neuroendocrine cell. Implications for the earliest events in cancer, & providing new models of tuft-like cancer. rdcu.be/eGUtj
rdcu.be
Basal cell of origin resolves neuroendocrine–tuft lineage plasticity in cancer
Nature - Basal cells, rather than neuroendocrine cells, have been identified as the probable origin of small cell lung cancer and other neuroendocrine–tuft cancers, explaining...
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Congratulations Niladri!!
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
Congratulations!!!
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
Congratulations Debbie! Exciting news!
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
It was a pleasure to speak to our SURF students - thank you for the invite Dr. Diaz!
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Thank you @aacrjournals.bsky.social for selecting our story for the cover of Cancer Research!
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
A special thanks to ALL our collaborators for their important contributions to this work and to NIH/NCI, CPRIT, V Foundation, Welch Foundation, and DoD for their support, and I’m excited that our submission was selected for the cover (credit: Jose Cabrera)!
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Collectively, our studies uncover a novel mechanism by which two immune checkpoint proteins are coordinately regulated and suggest a new therapeutic strategy for lung cancer patients.
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Finally, we showed that ISR activation accelerates tumorigenesis and inhibits T cell function, effects that can be overcome by combining PD-1 and TIGIT blockade with the ISR inhibitor ISRIB.
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Our analysis of primary human lung tumors identified a significant correlation between PD-L1 and CD155 expression. This is particularly interesting because other groups have shown that CD155 expression is associated with resistance to anti-PD-1 therapy in lung cancer.
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
Here we sought to uncover additional immune checkpoint proteins regulated by the ISR to elucidate mechanisms of tumor immune escape. We show that CD155 and PD-L1 are coordinately induced by the ISR, enhancing translation of both immune checkpoints through bypass of inhibitory uORFs in their 5' UTRs.
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
The ISR is an adaptive pathway hijacked by cancer cells to survive cellular stresses in the tumor microenvironment. We previously showed that ISR activation potently induces Programmed Death Ligand 1 (PD-L1), leading to suppression of anti-tumor immunity (Suresh et al, Nature Cancer, 2020).
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
The Integrated Stress Response (ISR) Pathway Coordinates Translational Control of Multiple Immune Checkpoints in Lung Cancer url: aacrjournals.org/cancerres/ar...
aacrjournals.org
The Integrated Stress Response Pathway Coordinates Translational Control of Multiple Immune Checkpoints in Lung Cancer
The integrated stress response represents a targetable axis to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy in lung cancer by inhibiting the coordinated translational regulation of the PD-L1/PD-1 and CD155/T...
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Kate O'Donnell @kateodonnell-lab.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
This is my first post here. The past few months have been challenging for science, but I enjoy learning about others' work here and wanted to share our latest study. Congrats to postdoc Shayna Thomas-Jardin on her outstanding work published in Cancer Research @theaacr.bsky.social
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