
Natthakan Thongon, PHD
Department of Leukemia, Division of Cancer Medicine
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Instructor, Department of Leukemia - Research, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Instructor, Department of Leukemia, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
2017 | University of Trento, Trento, IT, Biomolecular Sciences, Ph.D |
2011 | Mahidol University, Bangkok, TH, Physiology, M.Sc |
2009 | Kasetsart University, Bangkok, TH, Biology, B.Sc |
Postgraduate Training
2018-2022 | Post-doctoral Fellow, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas |
2017-2018 | Post-doctoral researcher, University of Trento, Trento |
Honors & Awards
2024 | ASH-EHA Translational Research Training in Hematology (TRTH) Award, American Society of Hematology and European Hematology Association |
2023 | Oral Presentation and Travel Award, European Hematology Association (EHA) |
2021 | Abstract Achievement Award, American Society of Hematology |
2021 | The IMS Young Investigator Award for Exemplary Abstract, International Myeloma Workshop (IMW) |
2020 | ASH Research Restart Award from the American Society of Hematology, American Society of Hematology |
2019 | Oral Presentation and Abstract Achievement Award, American Society of Hematology |
2019 | The IMS Young Investigator Award for Exemplary Abstract, International Myeloma Workshop (IMW), |
2017 | DOCTOR EUROPAEUS, European Union Rectors |
2015 | Erasmus research-exchange program, Erasmus Mundus Scholarship |
2013 - 2017 | Full Ph.D scholarship award, University of Trento, Italy |
2006 - 2012 | Full Thailand national scholarship award, the Development and Promotion of Science and technology talent project (DPST), the Royal Thai Government, Thailand |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Gutierrez-Rodrigues F, Groarke EM, Thongon N, Rodriguez-Sevilla JJ, Catto LFB, Niewisch MR, Shalhoub R, McReynolds LJ, Cle DV, Patel BA, Ma X, Hironaka D, Donaires FS, Spitofsky N, Santana BA, Lai TP, Alemu L, Kajigaya S, Darden I, Zhou W, Browne PV, Paul S, Lack J, Young DJ, DiNardo CD, Aviv A, Ma F, De Oliveira MM, de Azambuja AP, Dunbar CE, Olszewska M, Olivier E, Papapetrou EP, Giri N, Alter BP, Bonfim C, Wu CO, Garcia-Manero G, Savage SA, Young NS, Colla S, Calado RT. Clonal landscape and clinical outcomes of telomere biology disorders: somatic rescue and cancer mutations. Blood 144(23):2402-2416, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 39316766.
- Montalban-Bravo G, Thongon N, Rodriguez-Sevilla JJ, Ma F, Ganan-Gomez I, Yang H, Kim YJ, Adema V, Wildeman B, Tanaka T, Darbaniyan F, Al-Atrash G, Dwyer K, Loghavi S, Kanagal-Shamanna R, Song X, Zhang J, Takahashi K, Kantarjian H, Garcia-Manero G, Colla S. Targeting MCL1-driven anti-apoptotic pathways overcomes blast progression after hypomethylating agent failure in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. Cell Rep Med 5(6):101585, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38781960.
- Marchesini M, Gherli A, Simoncini E, Dalla Tor LM, Montanaro A, Thongon N, Vento F, Liverani C, Cerretani E, D'Antuono A, Pagliaro L, Zamponi R, Spadazzi C, Follini E, Cambò B, Giaimo M, Falco A, Sammarelli G, Todaro G, Bonomini S, Adami V, Piazza S, Corbo C, Lorusso B, Mezzasoma F, Maria Lagrasta CA, Martelli MP, Starza RL, Cuneo A, Aversa F, Mecucci C, Quaini F, Colla S, Roti G. Orthogonal proteogenomic analysis identifies the druggable PA2G4-MYC axis in 3q26 AML. Nat Commun, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38834613.
- Rodriguez-Sevilla JJ, Ganan-Gomez I, Ma F, Chien K, Del Rey M, Loghavi S, Montalban-Bravo G, Adema V, Wildeman B, Kanagal-Shamanna R, Bazinet A, Chifotides HT, Thongon N, Calvo X, Hernandez-Rivas JM, Diez-Campelo M, Garcia-Manero G, Colla S. Hematopoietic stem cells with granulo-monocytic differentiation state overcome venetoclax sensitivity in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes. Nat Commun 15(1):2428, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38499526.
- Thongon N, Ma F, Baran N, Lockyer P, Liu J, Jackson C, Rose A, Furudate K, Wildeman B, Marchesini M, Marchica V, Storti P, Todaro G, Ganan-Gomez I, Adema V, Rodriguez-Sevilla JJ, Qing Y, Ha MJ, Fonseca R, Stein C, Class C, Tan L, Attanasio S, Garcia-Manero G, Giuliani N, Berrios Nolasco D, Santoni A, Cerchione C, Bueso-Ramos C, Konopleva M, Lorenzi P, Takahashi K, Manasanch E, Sammarelli G, Kanagal-Shamanna R, Viale A, Chesi M, Colla S. Targeting DNA2 overcomes metabolic reprogramming in multiple myeloma. Nat Commun 15(1):1203, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38331987.
- Carreira ASA, Ravera S, Zucal C, Thongon N, Caffa I, Astigiano C, Bertola N, Buongiorno A, Roccuzzo M, Bisio A, Pardini B, Nencioni A, Bruzzone S, Provenzani A. Mitochondrial rewiring drives metabolic adaptation to NAD(H) shortage in triple negative breast cancer cells. Neoplasia 41:100903, 2023. e-Pub 2023. PMID: 37148658.
- Adema V, Ma F, Kanagal-Shamanna R, Thongon N, Montalban-Bravo G, Yang H, Peslak SA, Wang F, Acha P, Sole F, Lockyer P, Cassari M, Maciejewski JP, Visconte V, Ganan-Gomez I, Song Y, Bueso-Ramos C, Pellegrini M, Tan TM, Bejar R, Carew JS, Halene S, Santini V, Al-Atrash G, Clise-Dwyer K, Garcia-Manero G, Blobel GA, Colla S. Targeting the EIF2AK1 Signaling Pathway Rescues Red Blood Cell Production in SF3B1-Mutant Myelodysplastic Syndromes With Ringed Sideroblasts. Blood Cancer Discov 3(6):554-567, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35926182.
- Ganan-Gomez I, Yang H, Ma F, Montalban-Bravo G, Thongon N, Marchica V, Richard-Carpentier G, Chien K, Manyam G, Wang F, Alfonso A, Chen S, Class C, Kanagal-Shamanna R, Ingram JP, Ogoti Y, Rose A, Loghavi S, Lockyer P, Cambo B, Muftuoglu M, Schneider S, Adema V, McLellan M, Garza J, Marchesini M, Giuliani N, Pellegrini M, Wang J, Walker J, Li Z, Takahashi K, Leverson JD, Bueso-Ramos C, Andreeff M, Clise-Dwyer K, Garcia-Manero G, Colla S. Stem cell architecture drives myelodysplastic syndrome progression and predicts response to venetoclax-based therapy. Nat Med 28(3):557-567, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35241842.
- Thongon N, Ma F, Santoni A, Marchesini M, Fiorini E, Rose A, Adema V, Ganan-Gomez I, Groarke EM, Gutierrez-Rodrigues F, Chen S, Lockyer P, Schneider S, Bueso-Ramos C, Montalban-Bravo G, Class CA, Soltysiak KA, Pellegrini M, Sahin E, Bertuch AA, DiNardo CD, Garcia-Manero G, Young NS, Dwyer K, Colla S. Hematopoiesis under telomere attrition at the single-cell resolution. Nat Commun 12(1):6850, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34824242.
- Suksen K, Janpipatkul K, Reabroi S, Anantachoke N, Reutrakul V, Chairoungdua A, Thongon N, Bhukhai K. Gambogic Acid Inhibits Wnt/β-catenin Signaling and Induces ER Stress-Mediated Apoptosis in Human Cholangiocarcinoma. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 22(6):1913-1920, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 34181351.
- Sutjarit N, Thongon N, Weerachayaphorn J, Piyachaturawat P, Suksamrarn A, Suksen K, Papachristou DJ, Blair HC. Inhibition of Adipogenic Differentiation of Human Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells by a Phytoestrogen Diarylheptanoid from Curcuma comosa. J Agric Food Chem 68(37):9993-10002, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32838526.
- Manzoni L, Zucal C, Maio DD, D'Agostino VG, Thongon N, Bonomo I, Lal P, Miceli M, Baj V, Brambilla M, Cerofolini L, Elezgarai S, Biasini E, Luchinat C, Novellino E, Fragai M, Marinelli L, Provenzani A, Seneci P. Interfering with HuR-RNA Interaction: Design, Synthesis and Biological Characterization of Tanshinone Mimics as Novel, Effective HuR Inhibitors. J Med Chem 61(4):1483-1498, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29313684.
- Thongon N, Zucal C, D'Agostino VG, Tebaldi T, Ravera S, Zamporlini F, Piacente F, Moschoi R, Raffaelli N, Quattrone A, Nencioni A, Peyron JF, Provenzani A. Cancer cell metabolic plasticity allows resistance to NAMPT inhibition but invariably induces dependence on LDHA. Cancer Metab 6:1, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29541451.
- Marchesi N, Thongon N, Pascale A, Provenzani A, Koskela A, Korhonen E, Smedowski A, Govoni S, Kauppinen A, Kaarniranta K, Amadio M. Autophagy Stimulus Promotes Early HuR Protein Activation and p62/SQSTM1 Protein Synthesis in ARPE-19 Cells by Triggering Erk1/2, p38(MAPK), and JNK Kinase Pathways. Oxid Med Cell Longev 2018:4956080, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29576851.
- Thongon N, Boonmuen N, Suksen K, Wichit P, Chairoungdua A, Tuchinda P, Suksamrarn A, Winuthayanon W, Piyachaturawat P. Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulator (SERM)-like Activities of Diarylheptanoid, a Phytoestrogen from Curcuma comosa, in Breast Cancer Cells, Pre-osteoblast Cells, and Rat Uterine Tissues. J Agric Food Chem 65(17):3490-3496, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28412809.
- Boonmuen N, Thongon N, Chairoungdua A, Suksen K, Pompimon W, Tuchinda P, Reutrakul V, Piyachaturawat P. 5-Acetyl goniothalamin suppresses proliferation of breast cancer cells via Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Eur J Pharmacol 791:455-464, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27640746.
- Thongon N, Castiglioni I, Zucal C, Latorre E, D'Agostino V, Bauer I, Pancher M, Ballestrero A, Feldmann G, Nencioni A, Provenzani A. The GSK3beta inhibitor BIS I reverts YAP-dependent EMT signature in PDAC cell lines by decreasing SMADs expression level. Oncotarget 7(18):26551-66, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27034169.
- D'Agostino VG, Lal P, Mantelli B, Tiedje C, Zucal C, Thongon N, Gaestel M, Latorre E, Marinelli L, Seneci P, Amadio M, Provenzani A. Dihydrotanshinone-I interferes with the RNA-binding activity of HuR affecting its post-transcriptional function. Sci Rep 5:16478, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26553968.
- Zucal C, D'Agostino VG, Casini A, Mantelli B, Thongon N, Soncini D, Caffa I, Cea M, Ballestrero A, Quattrone A, Indraccolo S, Nencioni A, Provenzani A. EIF2A-dependent translational arrest protects leukemia cells from the energetic stress induced by NAMPT inhibition. BMC Cancer 15:855, 2015. e-Pub 2015. PMID: 26542945.
- Bhukhai K, Suksen K, Bhummaphan N, Janjorn K, Thongon N, Tantikanlayaporn D, Piyachaturawat P, Suksamrarn A, Chairoungdua A. A phytoestrogen diarylheptanoid mediates estrogen receptor/Akt/glycogen synthase kinase 3beta protein-dependent activation of the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway. J Biol Chem 287(43):36168-78, 2012. e-Pub 2012. PMID: 22936801.
Other Articles
- Zucal C, D'Agostino V, Loffredo R, Mantelli B, Thongon N, Lal P, Latorre E, Provenzani A Targeting the multifaceted HuR protein, benefits and caveats. Curr Drug Targets 16(5):499-515, 2015. PMID: 25706256.
Abstracts
- Thongon N, Colla S. ILF2 antisense oligonucleotide therapy and CRISPR/Cas9-based screen for DNA repair genes identify synthetic lethal approaches to enhance myeloma cells’ sensitivity to DNA damage. The 17th International Myeloma Workshop (IMW).
- Thongon N, Colla S. ILF2 Antisense Oligonucleotide Therapy and a CRISPR/Cas9-Based Screening for DNA Repair Effectors Identify Synthetic Lethal Approaches Enhancing Myeloma Cells’ Sensitivity to DNA Damage. The 61st ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition.
- Thongon N, Colla S. Targeting DNA2 overcomes myeloma cells’ metabolic reprogramming in response to DNA damage. The 18th International Myeloma Workshop (IMW).
- Thongon N, Colla S. Targeting DNA2 Overcomes Myeloma Cells’ Metabolic Reprogramming in Response to DNA Damage. The 62nd ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition.
- Thongon N, Colla S. Flow cytometry-based assays dissected new mechanisms of hematopoietic stem cells’ exhaustion induced by telomere shortening. The 15th Annual Flow Tex Conference.
- Thongon N, Colla S. Targeting DNA2 Overcomes Metabolic Reprogramming in 1q21 Multiple Myeloma. EACR-AACR-SIC Basic & Translational Research Conference 2023: Immune Response and DNA Repair.
- Thongon N, Colla S. Targeting DNA2 Overcomes Metabolic Reprogramming in 1q21 Multiple Myeloma. The European Hematology Association (EHA).
Selected Presentations & Talks
Local Presentations
- 2022. Flash Talk Speaker. Conference. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Houston, TX, US.
- 2022. Emerging Scientist session (Speaker). Conference. 15th Annual FlowTex Conference. Houston, TX, US.
National Presentations
- 2021. Poster presentation. Conference. 62nd ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition. Atlanta, GA, US.
- 2019. Oral Presentation. Conference. 61st ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition. Orlando, FL, US.
International Presentations
- 2023. Oral presentation: Targeting DNA2 Overcomes Metabolic Reprogramming in 1q21 Multiple Myeloma. Conference. The European Hematology Association (EHA). Frankfurt, DE.
- 2023. Oral presentation: Targeting DNA2 Overcomes Metabolic Reprogramming in 1q21 Multiple Myeloma. Conference. EACR-AACR-SIC Basic & Translational Research Conference 2023: Immune Response and DNA Repair. Florence, IT.
- 2021. Poster presentation. Conference. 18th International Myeloma Workshop (IMW). Vienna, AT.
- 2019. Poster presentation. Conference. 17th International Myeloma Workshop (IMW). Boston, US.
Grant & Contract Support
Date: | 2025 - 2028 |
Title: | EvansMDS Young Investigator Award 2025 |
Funding Source: | EVANS MDS Foundation |
Role: | PI |
Date: | 2020 - 2021 |
Title: | ASH Research Restart Award from the American Society of Hematology |
Funding Source: | ASH |
Role: | PI |
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified April 22, 2025