Scholars@Duke
Luke Izzo

Luke Izzo

Postdoctoral Associate
Pharmacology & Cancer Biology

Selected Publications

TMPRSS11B promotes an acidified microenvironment and immune suppression in squamous lung cancer.

Journal Article EMBO Rep · December 2025 Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Existing therapeutic options have limited efficacy, particularly for lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC), underscoring the critical need for the identification of new therapeutic targets. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Transmembrane Serine Protease TMPRSS11B promotes an acidified tumor microenvironment and immune suppression in lung squamous cell carcinoma.

Journal Article bioRxiv · April 3, 2025 Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Existing therapeutic options have limited efficacy, particularly for lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC), underscoring the critical need for the identification of new therapeutic targets. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Acetyl-CoA synthesis in the skin is a key determinant of systemic lipid homeostasis.

Journal Article Cell reports · February 2025 ATP-citrate lyase (ACLY) generates cytosolic acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) for lipid synthesis and is a promising therapeutic target in diseases with altered lipid metabolism. Here, we developed inducible whole-body Acly-knockout mice to determine the req ... Full text Cite

Epigenetic Regulators Open the Door to SCLC Plasticity.

Journal Article Cancer Res · November 1, 2023 Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a neuroendocrine tumor type with limited treatment options and poor prognosis. SCLC comprises multiple molecular subtypes that are defined by the expression of the lineage-related transcription factors ASCL1, NEUROD1, POU2F ... Full text Link to item Cite

Serotonin reduction in post-acute sequelae of viral infection.

Journal Article Cell · October 2023 Post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC, "Long COVID") pose a significant global health challenge. The pathophysiology is unknown, and no effective treatments have been found to date. Several hypotheses have been formulated to explain the etiology of PASC, i ... Full text Cite

Acetylcarnitine shuttling links mitochondrial metabolism to histone acetylation and lipogenesis.

Journal Article Science advances · May 2023 The metabolite acetyl-CoA is necessary for both lipid synthesis in the cytosol and histone acetylation in the nucleus. The two canonical precursors to acetyl-CoA in the nuclear-cytoplasmic compartment are citrate and acetate, which are processed to acetyl- ... Full text Cite

O-GlcNAc transferase regulates glioblastoma acetate metabolism via regulation of CDK5-dependent ACSS2 phosphorylation.

Journal Article Oncogene · April 2022 Glioblastomas (GBMs) preferentially generate acetyl-CoA from acetate as a fuel source to promote tumor growth. O-GlcNAcylation has been shown to be elevated by increasing O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) in many cancers and reduced O-GlcNAcylation can block canc ... Full text Cite

Quantitative subcellular acyl-CoA analysis reveals distinct nuclear metabolism and isoleucine-dependent histone propionylation.

Journal Article Molecular cell · January 2022 Quantitative subcellular metabolomic measurements can explain the roles of metabolites in cellular processes but are subject to multiple confounding factors. We developed stable isotope labeling of essential nutrients in cell culture-subcellular fractionat ... Full text Cite

The Bidirectional Relationship Between Cancer Epigenetics and Metabolism.

Journal Article Annual review of cancer biology · March 2021 Metabolic and epigenetic reprogramming are characteristics of cancer cells that, in many cases, are linked. Oncogenic signaling, diet, and tumor microenvironment each influence the availability of metabolites that are substrates or inhibitors of epigenetic ... Full text Cite

Quantification of lactoyl-CoA (lactyl-CoA) by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry in mammalian cells and tissues.

Journal Article Open biology · September 2020 Lysine lactoylation is a recently described protein post-translational modification (PTM). However, the biochemical pathways responsible for this acylation remain unclear. Two metabolite-dependent mechanisms have been proposed: enzymatic histone lysine lac ... Full text Cite

Dietary fructose feeds hepatic lipogenesis via microbiota-derived acetate.

Journal Article Nature · March 2020 Consumption of fructose has risen markedly in recent decades owing to the use of sucrose and high-fructose corn syrup in beverages and processed foods1, and this has contributed to increasing rates of obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseas ... Full text Cite