Christopher Chidley

The Chidley lab focuses on exploring transporter proteins, particularly solute carriers (SLCs), and their role in shuttling nutrients and drugs across impermeable cellular membranes. These transporters act as crucial bridges between environments, playing a vital role in maintaining cellular homeostasis and influencing cellular drug responses. Using genetic screening technologies, we aim to match metabolites and drugs with their respective transporters, map nutrient dependencies across environments and uncover proteins regulating compartment-specific metabolite levels. By studying these transporters, we gain insights into the composition of the environment surrounding cells and the demands of intracellular metabolism. We are especially interested in understanding how the nutrient profile of the tumor microenvironment influences cancer cell proliferation and resistance to therapy. Overall, we seek to advance our understanding of the role of transporters and their substrates in normal cells and in disease, guide the development of strategies to suppress tumor growth, and support precision medicine efforts in cancer therapy by revealing determinants of drug sensitivity and resistance.

For further information: sites.duke.edu/chidleylab.