October 2024
Dr. Alexander Nikitin‘s (Professor of Pathology, Department of Biomedical Sciences) laboratory published an article in Nature Communications earlier this month, co-first authored by Dr. Andrea Flesken-Nikitin (Assistant Research Professor) and graduate student Coulter Ralston. The article, titled “Pre-ciliated tubal epithelial cells are prone to initiating of high-grade serous ovarian carcinoma,” highlights transitional cells in the fallopian tube, known as a pre-ciliated tubal epithelial cells, as being particularly susceptible to cancer. High-grade serous carcinoma (HGSC) can develop in both the ovary and a section of the fallopian tube, and this publication reflects the lab’s first time identifying susceptible cells in the fallopian tube.
These new transitional cell findings may be a gateway to future diagnostic and therapeutic methods. HGSC, the most aggressive form of ovarian cancer, presents without symptoms, and most patients will die within five years of detection. Currently, no diagnostic methods for this cancer are available, which makes the possibilities for future study of these transitional cells highly valuable.
For more information about this paper’s findings, you can read the article on Nature Communications, or check out the Cornell Chronicle profile on their work, “Origin of deadly ovarian cancer identified.”
The image for this article, from Dr. Flesken Nikitin’s and Ralston’s research article, shows “Detection of ciliation FOXJ1 (green) and TRP73 (green) markers but not secretory marker OVGP1 (green) in Krt5+ (tdTomato) cells and their progeny (arrows) in the distal tubal epithelium 1 and 30 days post-induction (DPI) with tamoxifen in Krt5-CreERT Ai9 mice.” See fig. 7a in Nature Communications for more information. All credit for this image belongs to Dr. Nikitin and his co-authors.
