Scholars@Duke
Mikhail A. Nikiforov

Mikhail A. Nikiforov

Professor of Pathology
Pathology
mikhail.nikiforov@duke.edu
210 Research Drive, GSRB II Rm. 4020, Durham, NC 27710

Scholarly Works - Journal articles

IRX4204 sensitizes multiple myeloma to ferroptosis and improves lenalidomide efficacy through the HMOX1-GPX4 axis.

Journal article Sci Rep · March 17, 2026 Despite advances in therapy, multiple myeloma (MM) largely remains incurable, emphasizing the need for new strategies to overcome drug resistance. Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent cell death pathway that may present a therapeutic vulnerability in MM, but i ... Full text Link to item Cite

Targeting STK17B kinase activates ferroptosis and suppresses drug resistance in multiple myeloma.

Journal article Blood · January 1, 2026 The progression of multiple myeloma (MM), an incurable malignancy of plasma cells, is often associated with the suppression of ferroptosis, a type of cell death driven by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation. The mechanisms underlying this suppression remain ... Full text Link to item Cite

Inhibitors of De Novo Guanylate Biosynthesis Enhance the Potency of MAPK Cascade Inhibitors Against Colorectal Cancer.

Journal article Int J Mol Sci · December 11, 2025 Despite continuing improvement in the standard of care, the clinical outcomes in metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) remain poor, especially among patients whose tumors carry activating mutations in BRAF or RAS-family oncogenes. These mutations initiate a s ... Full text Link to item Cite

Inhibition of the RAC/PAK Signaling Axis Enhances the Potency of MAPK Cascade Inhibitors Against Uveal Melanoma.

Journal article Biomolecules · October 7, 2025 Uveal melanoma is a melanocyte-derived malignancy of the eye with a high propensity for liver metastasis. Metastatic uveal melanoma is associated with high mortality and is poorly responsive to currently available therapies. Most uveal melanoma cases are d ... Full text Link to item Cite

Targeting ABCD1-ACOX1-MET/IGF1R axis suppresses multiple myeloma.

Journal article Leukemia · March 2025 Multiple myeloma (MM) remains an incurable hematological malignancy that necessitates the identification of novel therapeutic strategies. Here, we report that intracellular levels of very long chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) control the cytotoxicity of MM chemo ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Clinical drug screening reveals clofazimine potentiates the efficacy while reducing the toxicity of anti-PD-1 and CTLA-4 immunotherapy.

Journal article Cancer Cell · May 13, 2024 Emerging as the most potent and durable combinational immunotherapy, dual anti-PD-1 and CTLA-4 immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy notoriously increases grade 3-5 immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in patients. Accordingly, attempts to improve the ... Full text Link to item Cite

Distinct inflammatory Th17 subsets emerge in autoimmunity and infection.

Journal article J Exp Med · October 2, 2023 Th17 cells play a critical role in both tissue homeostasis and inflammation during clearance of infections as well as autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. Despite numerous efforts to distinguish the homeostatic and inflammatory roles of Th17 cells, the m ... Full text Link to item Cite

Compartmentalization and regulation of GTP in control of cellular phenotypes.

Journal article Trends Mol Med · September 2022 Genetic or pharmacological inhibition of enzymes involved in GTP biosynthesis has substantial biological effects, underlining the need to better understand the function of GTP levels in regulation of cellular processes and the significance of targeting GTP ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Phosphorylation of guanosine monophosphate reductase triggers a GTP-dependent switch from pro- to anti-oncogenic function of EPHA4.

Journal article Cell Chem Biol · June 16, 2022 Signal transduction pathways post-translationally regulating nucleotide metabolism remain largely unknown. Guanosine monophosphate reductase (GMPR) is a nucleotide metabolism enzyme that decreases GTP pools by converting GMP to IMP. We observed that phosph ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Regulation of local GTP availability controls RAC1 activity and cell invasion.

Journal article Nat Commun · October 19, 2021 Physiological changes in GTP levels in live cells have never been considered a regulatory step of RAC1 activation because intracellular GTP concentration (determined by chromatography or mass spectrometry) was shown to be substantially higher than the in v ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

The fatty acid elongase ELOVL6 regulates bortezomib resistance in multiple myeloma

Journal article Blood Advances · April 13, 2021 AbstractResistance to the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib (BTZ) represents a major obstacle in the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM). The contribution of lipid metabolism in the resistance of MM cells to BTZ is mostly unkn ... Full text Open Access Cite