Linking Cancer Drivers to Programmed Cell Death
Event details
| Date | 15.12.2025 |
| Hour | 11:00 › 12:00 |
| Speaker | Sai Gourisankar, Ph.D., Stanford University, CA (USA) |
| Location | Online |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
| Event Language | English |
3-DAY BIOE MINI-SYMPOSIUM on Life Science Engineering
(DAY TWO: talk four / previous talk / next talk)
Abstract:
A principle in the development of cancer therapies is that robust death of the malignant cell is critical. However, traditional cancer therapies often rely on inhibiting essential proteins, risking toxicity in healthy cells. I will present an alternative approach that leverages chemically induced proximity to rewire cancer drivers to selectively activate apoptosis1-3. These small molecules redirect chromatin regulators –including elongation factors, transcriptional kinases, and acetyltransferases – to activate cell death genes silenced by cancer drivers such as BCL6 in diffuse large B cell lymphomas. Structural and mechanistic studies reveal a sub-stoichiometric, gain-of-function mechanism that decouples efficacy from on-target toxicity. Induced proximity thus enables systematic exploitation of the malignant function of an oncogenic driver to achieve context-specific transcriptional control, offering a new direction for targeted cancer therapeutics.
References:
1. Gourisankar, S., Krokhotin, A. et al. Nature 620, 417-425, (2023).
2. Sarott, R. C., Gourisankar, S. et al. Science 386, eadl5361, (2024).
3. Nix, M. N., Gourisankar, S. et al. bioRxiv, (2025).
Bio:
Sai Gourisankar, PhD is an NCI K99/R00 Postdoctoral Fellow at the Stanford Cancer Institute in the laboratory of Prof. Nathanael Gray. His PhD was in chemical engineering, advised by Prof. Gerald Crabtree, where he investigated mechanisms of epigenetic regulation in cancer and development. Dr. Gourisankar’s postdoctoral work focuses on developing new small molecule technologies to target and reprogram oncogenic drivers for therapeutic applications, particularly using chemical induced proximity approaches and enabled by biochemistry and genomics.
Zoom link for attending remotely, if needed: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/69216732793
(DAY TWO: talk four / previous talk / next talk)
Abstract:
A principle in the development of cancer therapies is that robust death of the malignant cell is critical. However, traditional cancer therapies often rely on inhibiting essential proteins, risking toxicity in healthy cells. I will present an alternative approach that leverages chemically induced proximity to rewire cancer drivers to selectively activate apoptosis1-3. These small molecules redirect chromatin regulators –including elongation factors, transcriptional kinases, and acetyltransferases – to activate cell death genes silenced by cancer drivers such as BCL6 in diffuse large B cell lymphomas. Structural and mechanistic studies reveal a sub-stoichiometric, gain-of-function mechanism that decouples efficacy from on-target toxicity. Induced proximity thus enables systematic exploitation of the malignant function of an oncogenic driver to achieve context-specific transcriptional control, offering a new direction for targeted cancer therapeutics.
References:
1. Gourisankar, S., Krokhotin, A. et al. Nature 620, 417-425, (2023).
2. Sarott, R. C., Gourisankar, S. et al. Science 386, eadl5361, (2024).
3. Nix, M. N., Gourisankar, S. et al. bioRxiv, (2025).
Bio:
Sai Gourisankar, PhD is an NCI K99/R00 Postdoctoral Fellow at the Stanford Cancer Institute in the laboratory of Prof. Nathanael Gray. His PhD was in chemical engineering, advised by Prof. Gerald Crabtree, where he investigated mechanisms of epigenetic regulation in cancer and development. Dr. Gourisankar’s postdoctoral work focuses on developing new small molecule technologies to target and reprogram oncogenic drivers for therapeutic applications, particularly using chemical induced proximity approaches and enabled by biochemistry and genomics.
Zoom link for attending remotely, if needed: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/69216732793
Practical information
- Informed public
- Free
Organizer
- Prof. Matteo Dal Peraro, Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, EPFL
Contact
- Institute of Bioengineering (IBI), Dietrich REINHARD