Jatin Roper | Scholars@Duke

Jatin Roper
Assistant Professor of Medicine

My laboratory is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms of stem cell function in the normal intestine and in colorectal cancer using innovative three-dimensional organoid and in vivo platforms. We demonstrated that high fat diet-induced obesity activates peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPARd) signaling in intestinal stem cells and progenitor cells, which increases stem cell regeneration and tumor initiation in the colon. We also pioneered novel orthotopic transplantation and in situ CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing models of colorectal cancer that recapitulate the adenoma-carcinoma-metastasis sequence. Research in the laboratory is focused on three main areas: 1) Immune regulation of the intestinal epithelium and colorectal cancer; 2) The effects of diet-induced obesity on regeneration in the intestine; and 3) analysis of colorectal cancer heterogeneity with single-cell mRNA sequencing and genetically engineered mouse models. The overall goal of this research is to develop new treatment approaches for intestinal diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer. I am also a gastroenterologist at Duke University Hospital and the Durham VA Hospital. My clinical interests include colorectal cancer screening and gastrointestinal cancer genetics.

Current Research Interests

intestinal stem cell biology, inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer

Current Appointments & Affiliations

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Medicine, Gastroenterology, Medicine 2019
Affiliate of the Regeneration Next Initiative, Regeneration Next Initiative, Institutes and Centers 2019
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute, Duke Cancer Institute, Institutes and Centers 2019

Contact Information

905 S. Lasalle Street, Gsrb-1, Room 1033, Durham, NC 27710
DUMC 103862, Durham, NC 27710
jatin.roper@duke.edu (919) 660-2923

Background
Education, Training, & Certifications
- Postdoctoral Fellow (mentor: Omer H. Yilmaz, M.D., PhD), Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT 2014 - 2018
- Postdoctoral Fellow in Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tufts University School of Medicine 2011 - 2014
- Fellowship in Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tufts University School of Medicine 2008 - 2012
- Residency in Internal Medicine, New York University School of Medicine 2006 - 2008
- Michael Saperstein Medical Scholar, New York University School of Medicine 2005 - 2006
- Internship in Internal Medicine, New York University School of Medicine 2004 - 2005
- M.D., Boston University School of Medicine 2004
Medical Licensure
- 2018-02505. North Carolina. 2018
Recognition
In the News
- JUN 9, 2017 Nature Reviews Cancer
  
  Tailored Mouse Models
- MAY 2, 2017 Colon Cancer New Today
  
  New MIT Mouse Model Using CRISPR Technology Could Speed Up Colon Cancer Research
- MAY 1, 2017 MIT News
  
  New model could speed up colon cancer research
- APR 30, 2017 The Scientist
  
  Gut Organoid Transplants Produce Colorectal Cancer in Mice
- MAY 5, 2016 Cell Stem Cell
  
  You are what you eat: linking high-fat diet to stem cell dysfunction and tumorigenesis
- APR 19, 2016 Stem Cells Portal
  
  Deregulated Intestinal Stem and Progenitor Cells - Linking Obesity to Cancer
- MAR 10, 2016 Obesity News Today
  
  High-fat Diets Direct Certain Intestinal Cells Toward Tumor Formation in Mice
- MAR 8, 2016 Science Signaling
  
  Fatty diet alters stem cells
- MAR 5, 2016 Medical Daily
  
  Colon Cancer Risk Linked To High-Fat Diet: How Eating More Fat Can Increase Intestinal Tumors
- MAR 2, 2016 Nature
  
  Dietary fat promotes intestinal dysregulation
- MAR 2, 2016 Ecancer News
  
  High-fat diets enhance the tumour-generating capacity of intestinal progenitor cell
Awards & Honors
Research
Selected Grants
- The role of Mtss1 in Hedgehog-mediated intestinal cancer stem cell function awarded by National Institutes of Health 2015 - 2020
Fellowships, Supported Research, & Other Grants
- Pilot Award awarded by AGA Research Foundation 2019 - 2020
- K08CA198002 awarded by National Cancer Institute 2015 - 2020
Publications & Artistic Works
Selected Publications
- Academic Articles
  - Lannagan, TRM, Lee, YK, Wang, T, Roper, J, Bettington, ML, Fennell, L, Vrbanac, L, Jonavicius, L, Somashekar, R, Gieniec, K, Yang, M, Ng, JQ, Suzuki, N, Ichinose, M, Wright, JA, Kobayashi, H, Putoczki, TL, Hayakawa, Y, Leedham, SJ, Abud, HE, Yilmaz, ÖH, Marker, J, Klebe, S, Wirapati, P, Mukherjee, S, Tejpar, S, Leggett, BA, Whitehall, VLJ, Worthley, DL, and Woods, SL. "Genetic editing of colonic organoids provides a molecularly distinct and orthotopic preclinical model of serrated carcinogenesis." Gut 68, no. 4 (April 2019): 684-692. Full Text
  - Goncalves, MD, Lu, C, Tutnauer, J, Hartman, TE, Hwang, S-K, Murphy, CJ, Pauli, C, Morris, R, Taylor, S, Bosch, K, Yang, S, Wang, Y, Van Riper, J, Lekaye, HC, Roper, J, Kim, Y, Chen, Q, Gross, SS, Rhee, KY, Cantley, LC, and Yun, J. "High-fructose corn syrup enhances intestinal tumor growth in mice." Science (New York, N.Y.) 363, no. 6433 (March 2019): 1345-1349. Full Text
  - Peng, B, Almeqdadi, M, Laroche, F, Palantavida, S, Dokukin, M, Roper, J, Yilmaz, OH, Feng, H, and Sokolov, I. "Ultrabright fluorescent cellulose acetate nanoparticles for imaging tumors through systemic and topical applications." Materials Today 23 (March 1, 2019): 16-25. Full Text
  - Peng, B, Almeqdadi, M, Laroche, F, Palantavida, S, Dokukin, M, Roper, J, Yilmaz, OH, Feng, H, and Sokolov, I. "Data on ultrabright fluorescent cellulose acetate nanoparticles for imaging tumors through systemic and topical applications." Data in Brief 22 (February 1, 2019): 383-391. Full Text
  - Koh, GY, Kane, A, Lee, K, Xu, Q, Wu, X, Roper, J, Mason, JB, and Crott, JW. "Parabacteroides distasonis attenuates toll-like receptor 4 signaling and Akt activation and blocks colon tumor formation in high-fat diet-fed azoxymethane-treated mice." International Journal of Cancer 143, no. 7 (October 1, 2018): 1797-1805. Full Text
  - Beyaz, S, Mana, MD, Roper, J, Kedrin, D, Saadatpour, A, Hong, S-J, Bauer-Rowe, KE, Xifaras, ME, Akkad, A, Arias, E, Pinello, L, Katz, Y, Shinagare, S, Abu-Remaileh, M, Mihaylova, MM, Lamming, DW, Dogum, R, Guo, G, Bell, GW, Selig, M, Nielsen, GP, Gupta, N, Ferrone, CR, Deshpande, V, Yuan, G-C, Orkin, SH, Sabatini, DM, and Yilmaz, ÖH. "Author Correction: High-fat diet enhances stemness and tumorigenicity of intestinal progenitors." Nature 560, no. 7717 (August 2018): E26-null. Full Text
  - Dhingra, R, Rai, P, Sieker, J, and Roper, J. "Myxedema Ascites: An Unusual Presentation of Uncontrolled Hypothyroidism." Cureus (May 14, 2018). Full Text
  - Roper, J, Tammela, T, Akkad, A, Almeqdadi, M, Santos, SB, Jacks, T, and Yilmaz, ÖH. "Colonoscopy-based colorectal cancer modeling in mice with CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing and organoid transplantation." Nature Protocols 13, no. 2 (February 2018): 217-234. Full Text
  - Lau, AN, Israelsen, WJ, Roper, J, Sinnamon, MJ, Georgeon, L, Dayton, TL, Hillis, AL, Yilmaz, OH, Di Vizio, D, Hung, KE, and Vander Heiden, MG. "PKM2 is not required for colon cancer initiated by APC loss." Cancer & Metabolism 5, no. 1 (December 2017). Full Text
  - Roper, J, Tammela, T, Cetinbas, NM, Akkad, A, Roghanian, A, Rickelt, S, Almeqdadi, M, Wu, K, Oberli, MA, Sánchez-Rivera, FJ, Park, YK, Liang, X, Eng, G, Taylor, MS, Azimi, R, Kedrin, D, Neupane, R, Beyaz, S, Sicinska, ET, Suarez, Y, Yoo, J, Chen, L, Zukerberg, L, Katajisto, P, Deshpande, V, Bass, AJ, Tsichlis, PN, Lees, J, Langer, R, Hynes, RO, Chen, J, Bhutkar, A, Jacks, T, and Yilmaz, ÖH. "In vivo genome editing and organoid transplantation models of colorectal cancer and metastasis." Nature Biotechnology 35, no. 6 (June 2017): 569-576. Full Text
  - Roper, J, and Yilmaz, ÖH. "Metabolic Teamwork in the Stem Cell Niche." Cell Metabolism 25, no. 5 (May 2017): 993-994. Full Text
  - Kedrin, D, Gandhi, SCC, Wolf, M, Roper, J, Yilmaz, O, Corey, K, Khalili, H, Stanford, FC, and Gala, M. "Bariatric Surgery Prior to Index Screening Colonoscopy Is Associated With a Decreased Rate of Colorectal Adenomas in Obese Individuals." Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology 8, no. 2 (February 9, 2017). Full Text
  - Beyaz, S, Mana, MD, Roper, J, Kedrin, D, Saadatpour, A, Hong, S-J, Bauer-Rowe, KE, Xifaras, ME, Akkad, A, Arias, E, Pinello, L, Katz, Y, Shinagare, S, Abu-Remaileh, M, Mihaylova, MM, Lamming, DW, Dogum, R, Guo, G, Bell, GW, Selig, M, Nielsen, GP, Gupta, N, Ferrone, CR, Deshpande, V, Yuan, G-C, Orkin, SH, Sabatini, DM, and Yilmaz, ÖH. "High-fat diet enhances stemness and tumorigenicity of intestinal progenitors." Nature 531, no. 7592 (March 2016): 53-58. Full Text
  - Yun, J, Mullarky, E, Lu, C, Bosch, KN, Kavalier, A, Rivera, K, Roper, J, Chio, IIC, Giannopoulou, EG, Rago, C, Muley, A, Asara, JM, Paik, J, Elemento, O, Chen, Z, Pappin, DJ, Dow, LE, Papadopoulos, N, Gross, SS, and Cantley, LC. "Vitamin C selectively kills KRAS and BRAF mutant colorectal cancer cells by targeting GAPDH." Science (New York, N.Y.) 350, no. 6266 (December 2015): 1391-1396. Full Text
  - Golovko, D, Kedrin, D, Yilmaz, ÖH, and Roper, J. "Colorectal cancer models for novel drug discovery." Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery 10, no. 11 (January 2015): 1217-1229. (Review) Full Text
  - Paul, S, Sepehr, GJ, Weinstein, B, and Roper, J. "Co-occurrence of idiopathic granulomatous hepatitis and primary biliary cirrhosis." Digestive Diseases and Sciences 59, no. 11 (November 2014): 2831-2835. Full Text
  - Roper, J, Martin, ES, and Hung, KE. "Overview of genetically engineered mouse models of colorectal carcinoma to enable translational biology and drug development." Current Protocols in Pharmacology 65 (June 16, 2014): 14.29.1-14.2910. Full Text
  - Belmont, PJ, Budinska, E, Jiang, P, Sinnamon, MJ, Coffee, E, Roper, J, Xie, T, Rejto, PA, Derkits, S, Sansom, OJ, Delorenzi, M, Tejpar, S, Hung, KE, and Martin, ES. "Cross-species analysis of genetically engineered mouse models of MAPK-driven colorectal cancer identifies hallmarks of the human disease." Disease Models & Mechanisms 7, no. 6 (June 2014): 613-623. Full Text
  - Roper, J, Sinnamon, MJ, Coffee, EM, Belmont, P, Keung, L, Georgeon-Richard, L, Wang, WV, Faber, AC, Yun, J, Yilmaz, ÖH, Bronson, RT, Martin, ES, Tsichlis, PN, and Hung, KE. "Combination PI3K/MEK inhibition promotes tumor apoptosis and regression in PIK3CA wild-type, KRAS mutant colorectal cancer." Cancer Letters 347, no. 2 (June 2014): 204-211. Full Text
  - Belmont, PJ, Jiang, P, McKee, TD, Xie, T, Isaacson, J, Baryla, NE, Roper, J, Sinnamon, MJ, Lee, NV, Kan, JLC, Guicherit, O, Wouters, BG, O'Brien, CA, Shields, D, Olson, P, VanArsdale, T, Weinrich, SL, Rejto, P, Christensen, JG, Fantin, VR, Hung, KE, and Martin, ES. "Resistance to dual blockade of the kinases PI3K and mTOR in KRAS-mutant colorectal cancer models results in combined sensitivity to inhibition of the receptor tyrosine kinase EGFR." Science Signaling 7, no. 351 (January 2014): ra107-null. Full Text
  - Faber, AC, Coffee, EM, Costa, C, Dastur, A, Ebi, H, Hata, AN, Yeo, AT, Edelman, EJ, Song, Y, Tam, AT, Boisvert, JL, Milano, RJ, Roper, J, Kodack, DP, Jain, RK, Corcoran, RB, Rivera, MN, Ramaswamy, S, Hung, KE, Benes, CH, and Engelman, JA. "mTOR inhibition specifically sensitizes colorectal cancers with KRAS or BRAF mutations to BCL-2/BCL-XL inhibition by suppressing MCL-1." Cancer Discovery 4, no. 1 (January 2014): 42-52. Full Text
  - Coffee, EM, Faber, AC, Roper, J, Sinnamon, MJ, Goel, G, and Keung, L. "Erratum: Concomitant BRAF and PI3K/mTOR blockade is required for effective treatment of BRAF^V600E colorectal cancer (Clinical Cancer Research (2013) 19 (2688-98))." Clinical Cancer Research 19, no. 14 (July 15, 2013): 4018-null. Full Text
  - Martin, ES, Belmont, PJ, Sinnamon, MJ, Richard, LG, Yuan, J, Coffee, EM, Roper, J, Lee, L, Heidari, P, Lunt, SY, Goel, G, Ji, X, Xie, Z, Xie, T, Lamb, J, Weinrich, SL, VanArsdale, T, Bronson, RT, Xavier, RJ, Vander Heiden, MG, Kan, JLC, Mahmood, U, and Hung, KE. "Development of a colon cancer GEMM-derived orthotopic transplant model for drug discovery and validation." Clinical Cancer Research : an Official Journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 19, no. 11 (June 2013): 2929-2940. Full Text
  - Coffee, EM, Faber, AC, Roper, J, Sinnamon, MJ, Goel, G, Keung, L, Wang, WV, Vecchione, L, de Vriendt, V, Weinstein, BJ, Bronson, RT, Tejpar, S, Xavier, RJ, Engelman, JA, Martin, ES, and Hung, KE. "Concomitant BRAF and PI3K/mTOR blockade is required for effective treatment of BRAF(V600E) colorectal cancer." Clinical Cancer Research : an Official Journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 19, no. 10 (May 2013): 2688-2698. Full Text
  - Roper, J, and Hung, KE. "Priceless GEMMs: genetically engineered mouse models for colorectal cancer drug development." Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 33, no. 8 (August 2012): 449-455. (Review) Full Text
  - Francois, F, Roper, J, Joseph, N, Pei, Z, Chhada, A, Shak, JR, de Perez, AZO, Perez-Perez, GI, and Blaser, MJ. "The effect of H. pylori eradication on meal-associated changes in plasma ghrelin and leptin." Bmc Gastroenterology 11 (April 14, 2011): 37-null. Full Text
  - Roper, J, Richardson, MP, Wang, WV, Richard, LG, Chen, W, Coffee, EM, Sinnamon, MJ, Lee, L, Chen, P-C, Bronson, RT, Martin, ES, and Hung, KE. "The dual PI3K/mTOR inhibitor NVP-BEZ235 induces tumor regression in a genetically engineered mouse model of PIK3CA wild-type colorectal cancer." Plos One 6, no. 9 (January 2011): e25132-null. Full Text
  - Shak, JR, Roper, J, Perez-Perez, GI, Tseng, C-H, Francois, F, Gamagaris, Z, Patterson, C, Weinshel, E, Fielding, GA, Ren, C, and Blaser, MJ. "The effect of laparoscopic gastric banding surgery on plasma levels of appetite-control, insulinotropic, and digestive hormones." Obesity Surgery 18, no. 9 (September 2008): 1089-1096. Full Text
  - Shak, JR, Roper, J, Perez-Perez, GI, Tseng, CH, Francois, F, Gamagaris, Z, Patterson, C, Weinshel, E, Fielding, GA, Ren, C, and Blaser, MJ. "The effect of laparoscopic gastric banding surgeryon plasma levels of appetite-control, insulinotropic, and digestive hormones (Obesity Surgery DOI: 10.1007/s11695-008-9454-6)." Obesity Surgery 18, no. 9 (September 1, 2008): 1097-1098. Full Text
  - Roper, J, Francois, F, Shue, PL, Mourad, MS, Pei, Z, Olivares de Perez, AZ, Perez-Perez, GI, Tseng, C-H, and Blaser, MJ. "Leptin and ghrelin in relation to Helicobacter pylori status in adult males." The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 93, no. 6 (June 2008): 2350-2357. Full Text
  - Francois, F, Roper, J, Goodman, AJ, Pei, Z, Ghumman, M, Mourad, M, de Perez, AZO, Perez-Perez, GI, Tseng, C-H, and Blaser, MJ. "The association of gastric leptin with oesophageal inflammation and metaplasia." Gut 57, no. 1 (January 2008): 16-24. Full Text
  - Pillinger, MH, Marjanovic, N, Kim, S-Y, Lee, Y-C, Scher, JU, Roper, J, Abeles, AM, Izmirly, PI, Axelrod, M, Pillinger, MY, Tolani, S, Dinsell, V, Abramson, SB, and Blaser, MJ. "Helicobacter pylori stimulates gastric epithelial cell MMP-1 secretion via CagA-dependent and -independent ERK activation." The Journal of Biological Chemistry 282, no. 26 (June 2007): 18722-18731. Full Text
- Book Sections
  - Cetinbas, NM, Roper, J, and Yilmaz, ÖH. "The Cancer Stem Cell Niche." In Biology and Engineering of Stem Cell Niches, 167-184. April 14, 2017. Full Text
  - Roper, J, and Hung, KE. "Molecular mechanisms of colorectal carcinogenesis." In Molecular Pathogenesis of Colorectal Cancer, 25-65. June 1, 2013. Full Text
Scholarly, Clinical, & Service Activities
Presentations & Appearances
Service to the Profession
Clinical Activities
- Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, Duke University
  Gastrointestinal endoscopy, Duke University Hospital
  Hereditary Cancer Clinic, Duke Cancer Center
  Attending Physician, Durham VA Medical Center Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology

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Education, Training, & Certifications

Medical Licensure

In the News

Awards & Honors

Selected Grants

Fellowships, Supported Research, & Other Grants

Selected Publications

Academic Articles

Book Sections

Presentations & Appearances

Service to the Profession

Clinical Activities