Jinseok Park

I have investigated cancer development from the perspective of cancer cell biology and mechanobiology. Cancer cells actively modify tumor microenvironment (TME) for tumor progression. Extracellular matrix (ECM), a major component of TME supporting embedded cells physically in the tissue, undergoes re-organization by cancer cells. The reorganized ECM reciprocally regulates cancer-related phenotypes such as invasive migration facilitating tumor progression. This suggests that the elucidation of cancer cell-ECM interaction can provide important cues to understanding cancer promoting mechanism and thus improving cancer treatment. Therefore, as leveraging in vitro ECM models wish nanofabricated surfaces or 3D model, our lab aims to address how cancer cell-ECM interaction stimulates cancer-promoting phenotypes such as invasive cell migration and heterogeneous cell-cell interaction synergically with oncogenic alteration.

• The Saban Research Institute: Research Career Development Award, 2022-2023

• Switch-like enhancement of epithelial-mesenchymal transition by YAP through feedback regulation of WT1 and Rho-family GTPases Nat Commun. 2019 06 26; 10(1):2797. . View in PubMed
• Topotaxis: A New Mechanism of Directed Cell Migration in Topographic ECM Gradients Biophys J. 2018 03 27; 114(6):1257-1263. . View in PubMed
• Biomechanical interplay between anisotropic re-organization of cells and the surrounding matrix underlies transition to invasive cancer spread Sci Rep. 2018 09 21; 8(1):14210. . View in PubMed
• A mathematical model coupling polarity signaling to cell adhesion explains diverse cell migration patterns PLoS Comput Biol. 2017 05; 13(5):e1005524. . View in PubMed
• Combined HMG-COA reductase and prenylation inhibition in treatment of CCM Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 05 23; 114(21):5503-5508. . View in PubMed
• Mechanochemical feedback underlies coexistence of qualitatively distinct cell polarity patterns within diverse cell populations Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 07 11; 114(28):E5750-E5759. . View in PubMed
• Precisely parameterized experimental and computational models of tissue organization Integr Biol (Camb). 2016 Feb; 8(2):230-242. . View in PubMed
• Directed migration of cancer cells guided by the graded texture of the underlying matrix Nat Mater. 2016 07; 15(7):792-801. . View in PubMed
• Migration Phenotype of Brain-Cancer Cells Predicts Patient Outcomes Cell Rep. 2016 06 21; 15(12):2616-24. . View in PubMed
• Notch signaling mediates melanoma-endothelial cell communication and melanoma cell migration Pigment Cell Melanoma Res. 2013 Sep; 26(5):697-707. . View in PubMed
• Control of stem cell fate and function by engineering physical microenvironments Integr Biol (Camb). 2012 Sep; 4(9):1008-18. . View in PubMed
• Quantitative analysis of the combined effect of substrate rigidity and topographic guidance on cell morphology IEEE Trans Nanobioscience. 2012 Mar; 11(1):28-36. . View in PubMed