Amanda R Wasylishen, PhD
Department of Genetics, Division of Basic Sciences
About Dr. Amanda R Wasylishen
Dr. Wasylishen is an Instructor in the Department of Genetics and seeks to understand the mechanisms that underlie cellular transformation and tumorigenesis. Originally from Canada, she received her BSc in Chemistry from Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick. She then completed her PhD in the Department of Medical Biophysics at The University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario. She worked with Dr. Linda Penn to advance our understanding of the functions and post-translational regulation of the MYC oncogene. Through this work she developed novel human cell line models of MYC-induced transformation and used these models to map the genome-wide binding profile of MYC and identify a transcriptional signature of MYC deregulation. She also identified several residues important for the negative regulation of MYC activity. Dr. Wasylishen joined Dr. Guillermina (Gigi) Lozano’s laboratory as a Postdoctoral Fellow in 2012, and was promoted to Instructor in 2018. Here her work focuses on understanding the function(s) of epigenetic regulators in pancreas homeostasis and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor suppression using novel genetically engineered mouse models, with the overall goal of identifying the molecular underpinnings of disease.
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Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Instructor, Department of Genetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2012 | University of Toronto, Toronto, CAN, PHD, Medical Biophysics |
| 2003 | Mount Allison University, Sackville, CAN, BS, Chemistry |
Postgraduate Training
| 2012-2018 | Research Fellowship, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX |
Honors & Awards
| 2016 | Dodie P. Hawn Award in Genetics – Outstanding Postdoctoral Fellow |
| 2013 | Canadian Institutes for Health Research Fellowship |
| 2011 | Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Travel Award |
| 2009 | Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, Ontario Region, Doctoral Fellowship |
| 2006 | Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation Graduate Fellowship |
| 2006 | University of Toronto Fellowship |
| 2003 | Mount Allison University Third Year Student of the Year |
| 2002 | Goodridge Undergraduate Summer Research Grant |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Wasylishen AR, Sun C, Moyer SM, Qi Y, Chau GP, Aryal NK, McAllister F, Kim MP, Barton MC, Estrella JS, Su X, Lozano G. Daxx maintains endogenous retroviral silencing and restricts cellular plasticity in vivo. Sci Adv 6(32):eaba8415, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32821827.
- Wasylishen AR, Sun C, Chau GP, Qi Y, Su X, Kim MP, Estrella JS, Lozano G. Men1 maintains exocrine pancreas homeostasis in response to inflammation and oncogenic stress. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 117(12):6622-6629, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32156729.
- El Beaino M, Liu J, Wasylishen AR, Pourebrahim R, Migut A, Bessellieu BJ, Huang K, Lin PP. Loss of Stag2 cooperates with EWS-FLI1 to transform murine Mesenchymal stem cells. BMC Cancer 20(1):3, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 31898537.
- Pant V, Xiong S, Wasylishen AR, Larsson CA, Aryal NK, Chau G, Tailor RC, Lozano G. Transient enhancement of p53 activity protects from radiation-induced gastrointestinal toxicity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 116(35):17429-17437, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 31409715.
- Aryal NK, Pant V, Wasylishen AR, Rimel BJ, Baseler L, El-Naggar AK, Mutch DG, Goodfellow PJ, Arur S, Lozano G. Dicer1 Phosphomimetic Promotes Tumor Progression and Dissemination. Cancer Res 79(10):2662-2668, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30914430.
- Samdani RT, Wasylishen AR, Halperin DM, Dasari A, Yao JC, Rashid A, Estrella JS. Loss of Menin Expression by Immunohistochemistry in Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors: Comparison Between Primary and Metastatic Tumors. Pancreas 48(4):510-513, 2019. PMID: 30946241.
- Wasylishen AR, Estrella JS, Pant V, Chau GP, Lozano G. Daxx Functions Are p53-Independent In Vivo. Mol Cancer Res 16(10):1523-1529, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29903771.
- Aryal NK, Wasylishen AR, Lozano G. CRISPR/Cas9 can mediate high-efficiency off-target mutations in mice in vivo. Cell Death Dis 9(11):1099, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30368519.
- Tonnessen-Murray C, Ungerleider NA, Rao SG, Wasylishen AR, Frey WD, Jackson JG. p53 Mediates Vast Gene Expression Changes That Contribute to Poor Chemotherapeutic Response in a Mouse Model of Breast Cancer. Transl Oncol 11(4):930-940, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29852458.
- Aryal NK, Wasylishen AR, Pant V, Riley-Croce M, Lozano G. Loss of digestive organ expansion factor (Diexf) reveals an essential role during murine embryonic development that is independent of p53. Oncotarget 8(61):103996-104006, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29262616.
- Li L, Liang S, Wasylishen AR, Zhang Y, Yang X, Zhou B, Shan L, Han X, Mu T, Wang G, Xiong S. PLA2G16 promotes osteosarcoma metastasis and drug resistance via the MAPK pathway. Oncotarget 7(14):18021-35, 2016. PMID: 26933804.
- Xiong S, Tu H, Kollareddy M, Pant V, Li Q, Zhang Y, Jackson JG, Suh YA, Elizondo-Fraire AC, Yang P, Chau G, Tashakori M, Wasylishen AR, Ju Z, Solomon H, Rotter V, Liu B, El-Naggar AK, Donehower LA, Martinez LA, Lozano G. Pla2g16 phospholipase mediates gain-of-function activities of mutant p53. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111(30):11145-50, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25024203.
- Wasylishen AR, Kalkat M, Kim SS, Pandyra A, Chan PK, Oliveri S, Sedivy E, Konforte D, Bros C, Raught B, Penn LZ. MYC activity is negatively regulated by a C-terminal lysine cluster. Oncogene 33(8):1066-72, 2014. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 23435422.
- Goard CA, Chan-Seng-Yue M, Mullen PJ, Quiroga AD, Wasylishen AR, Clendening JW, Sendorek DH, Haider S, Lehner R, Boutros PC, Penn LZ. Identifying molecular features that distinguish fluvastatin-sensitive breast tumor cells. Breast Cancer Res Treat 143(2):301-12, 2014. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24337703.
- Kalkat M, Chan PK, Wasylishen AR, Srikumar T, Kim SS, Ponzielli R, Bazett-Jones DP, Raught B, Penn LZ. Identification of c-MYC SUMOylation by mass spectrometry. PLoS One 9(12):e115337, 2014. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25522242.
- Wasylishen AR, Chan-Seng-Yue M, Bros C, Dingar D, Tu WB, Kalkat M, Chan PK, Mullen PJ, Huang L, Meyer N, Raught B, Boutros PC, Penn LZ. MYC phosphorylation at novel regulatory regions suppresses transforming activity. Cancer Res 73(21):6504-15, 2013. e-Pub 2013. PMID: 24030976.
- Wasylishen AR, Stojanova A, Oliveri S, Rust AC, Schimmer AD, Penn LZ. New model systems provide insights into Myc-induced transformation. Oncogene 30(34):3727-34, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21441954.
- Luoto KR, Meng AX, Wasylishen AR, Zhao H, Coackley CL, Penn LZ, Bristow RG. Tumor cell kill by c-MYC depletion: role of MYC-regulated genes that control DNA double-strand break repair. Cancer Res 70(21):8748-59, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20940401.
- Wong WW, Boutros PC, Wasylishen AR, Guckert KD, O'Brien EM, Griffiths R, Martirosyan AR, Bros C, Jurisica I, Langler RF, Penn LZ. Characterization of the apoptotic response of human leukemia cells to organosulfur compounds. BMC Cancer 10:351, 2010. e-Pub 2010. PMID: 20598143.
- Beheshti Zavareh R, Lau KS, Hurren R, Datti A, Ashline DJ, Gronda M, Cheung P, Simpson CD, Liu W, Wasylishen AR, Boutros PC, Shi H, Vengopal A, Jurisica I, Penn LZ, Reinhold VN, Ezzat S, Wrana J, Rose DR, Schachter H, Dennis JW, Schimmer AD. Inhibition of the sodium/potassium ATPase impairs N-glycan expression and function. Cancer Res 68(16):6688-97, 2008. PMID: 18701493.
- Caldwell SL, Langler RF, Ryan DA, Wasylishen AR. Synthesis of the first alpha-mercaptoketal and an antifungal ketodisulfide. Journal of Sulfur Chemistry 29(2):163-170, 2008.
Invited Articles
- Kalkat M, Wasylishen AR, Kim SS, Penn L. More than MAX: Discovering the Myc interactome. Cell Cycle 10(3):374-5, 2011. e-Pub 2011. PMID: 21270515.
- Wasylishen AR, Penn LZ. Myc: the beauty and the beast. Genes Cancer 1(6):532-41, 2010. PMID: 21779457.
Book Chapters
- Wasylishen AR, Lozano G. Attenuating the p53 Pathway in Human Cancers: Many Means to the Same End. In: Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 8, 2016.