Scholars@Duke
Ming Chen

Ming Chen

Associate Professor of Pathology
Pathology
Duke Box 103863, Durham, NC 27710
905 S LaSalle St, GSRB1, Rm 2014, Durham, NC 27710

Featured Works

Targeting SREBP-dependent lipogenesis potentiates the anti-tumor activity of docetaxel by increasing membrane permeability and intracellular drug accumulation.

Journal article Oncogene · November 2025 Featured Publication Lipid metabolism is among the most frequently dysregulated metabolic processes in human cancer, yet how cellular lipids, the end products of lipogenesis, and their composition are altered to support various aspects of cancer remains poorly understood. Here ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Lipid nanoparticle-based mRNA vaccines: a new frontier in precision oncology.

Journal article Precis Clin Med · September 2024 Featured Publication The delivery of lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-based mRNA therapeutics has captured the attention of the vaccine research community as an innovative and versatile tool for treating a variety of human malignancies. mRNA vaccines are now in the limelight as an alt ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Tracking down metabolic vulnerabilities in CDK12-mutant prostate cancer.

Journal article Clin Transl Discov · August 2024 Featured Publication Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Nuclear PTEN Regulates Thymidylate Biosynthesis in Human Prostate Cancer Cell Lines.

Journal article Metabolites · August 11, 2023 Featured Publication The phosphatase and tensin homologue deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) tumor suppressor governs a variety of biological processes, including metabolism, by acting on distinct molecular targets in different subcellular compartments. In the cytosol, inactive P ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

RB1-deficient prostate tumor growth and metastasis are vulnerable to ferroptosis induction via the E2F/ACSL4 axis.

Journal article J Clin Invest · May 15, 2023 Featured Publication Inactivation of the RB1 tumor suppressor gene is common in several types of therapy-resistant cancers, including metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, and predicts poor clinical outcomes. Effective therapeutic strategies against RB1-deficient ca ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

The expanded role of fatty acid metabolism in cancer: new aspects and targets.

Journal article Precis Clin Med · September 2019 Featured Publication Cancer cells undergo metabolic reprogramming to support cell proliferation, growth, and dissemination. Alterations in lipid metabolism, and specifically the uptake and synthesis of fatty acids (FAs), comprise one well-documented aspect of this reprogrammin ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Reactivation of PTEN tumor suppressor for cancer treatment through inhibition of a MYC-WWP1 inhibitory pathway.

Journal article Science · May 17, 2019 Featured Publication Activation of tumor suppressors for the treatment of human cancer has been a long sought, yet elusive, strategy. PTEN is a critical tumor suppressive phosphatase that is active in its dimer configuration at the plasma membrane. Polyubiquitination by the ub ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Compound haploinsufficiency of Dok2 and Dusp4 promotes lung tumorigenesis.

Journal article J Clin Invest · January 2, 2019 Featured Publication Recurrent broad-scale heterozygous deletions are frequently observed in human cancer. Here we tested the hypothesis that compound haploinsufficiency of neighboring genes at chromosome 8p promotes tumorigenesis. By targeting the mouse orthologs of human DOK ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

The functions and regulation of the PTEN tumour suppressor: new modes and prospects.

Journal article Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol · September 2018 Featured Publication PTEN is a potent tumour suppressor, and its loss of function is frequently observed in both heritable and sporadic cancers. PTEN has phosphatase-dependent and phosphatase-independent (scaffold) activities in the cell and governs a variety of biological pro ... Full text Link to item Cite

Preclinical and Coclinical Studies in Prostate Cancer.

Journal article Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med · April 2, 2018 Featured Publication Men who develop metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) will invariably succumb to their disease. Thus there remains a pressing need for preclinical testing of new drugs and drug combinations for late-stage prostate cancer (PCa). Insights f ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

An aberrant SREBP-dependent lipogenic program promotes metastatic prostate cancer.

Journal article Nat Genet · February 2018 Featured Publication Lipids, either endogenously synthesized or exogenous, have been linked to human cancer. Here we found that PML is frequently co-deleted with PTEN in metastatic human prostate cancer (CaP). We demonstrated that conditional inactivation of Pml in the mouse p ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Deregulated PP1α phosphatase activity towards MAPK activation is antagonized by a tumor suppressive failsafe mechanism.

Journal article Nat Commun · January 15, 2018 Featured Publication The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway is frequently aberrantly activated in advanced cancers, including metastatic prostate cancer (CaP). However, activating mutations or gene rearrangements among MAPK signaling components, such as Ras and Ra ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite