Publications

Invasive lobular carcinoma biology
Sottnik JL, Shackleford MT, Richer AL, Fu R, Hesselberth JR, Sikora MJ. Co-regulator activity of Mediator of DNA Damage Checkpoint 1 (MDC1) is associated with DNA repair dysfunction and PARP inhibitor sensitivity in lobular carcinoma of the breast. bioRxiv 2023.10.29.564555; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.29.564555.

Estrogen receptor function; breast cancer biology
Li Z, Li T, Yates ME, Wu Y, Ferber A, Chen L, Brown DD, Carroll JS, Sikora MJ, Tseng GC, Oesterreich S, Lee AV. The EstroGene Database Reveals Diverse Temporal, Context-Dependent, and Bidirectional Estrogen Receptor Regulomes in Breast Cancer. Cancer Res. 2023 Aug 15;83(16):2656-2674. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-23-0539. PMID: 37272757; PMCID: PMC10527051.

WNT4; Invasive lobular carcinoma biology
[Sottnik JL, Shackleford MT], Bahnassy S, Madak-Erdogan Z, Riggins RB, Bitler BG, Sikora MJ. WNT4 executes estrogen regulation of cellular metabolism via intracellular activity at the mitochondria. bioRxiv 2022.07.15.499747; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.07.15.499747.  [Authors contributed equally]

Estrogen receptor function; breast cancer biology
Li Z, Spoelstra NS, Sikora MJ, Sams SB, Elias A, Richer JK, Lee AV, Oesterreich S. Mutual exclusivity of ESR1 and TP53 mutations in endocrine resistant metastatic breast cancer. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2022 May 10;8(1):62. doi: 10.1038/s41523-022-00426-w. PMID: 35538119; PMCID: PMC9090919.

Invasive lobular carcinoma biology
Bahnassy S, Sikora MJ, Riggins RB. Unlocking the Mysteries of Lobular Breast Cancer Biology Needs the Right Combination of Preclinical Models. Mol Cancer Res. 2022 Mar 11:molcanres.0018.2022. doi: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-22-0018. PMID: 35276005.

WNT4; women's health
Pitzer LM, Moroney MR, Nokoff NJ, Sikora MJ. WNT4 Balances Development vs Disease in Gynecologic Tissues and Women's Health. Endocrinology. 2021 Jul 1;162(7):bqab093. doi: 10.1210/endocr/bqab093. PMID: 33963381.

Estrogen receptor function; Invasive lobular carcinoma biology
[Sottnik JL, Bordeaux EK]*, Mehrotra S, Ferrara SE, Goodspeed AE, Costello JC, Sikora MJ. Mediator of DNA damage checkpoint 1 (MDC1) is a novel estrogen receptor co-regulator in invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast. Mol Cancer Res. 2021 May 4. doi: 10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-21-0025. PMID: 33947745.
August 2021 cover of Molecular Cancer Research: https://mcr.aacrjournals.org/content/19/8.cover-expansion  
*, Authors contributed equally.

Career development; NR IMPACT
Sikora MJ, Riggins RB, Madak-Erdogan Z. Making an IMPACT on career development for early- and mid-career faculty. Endocrinology. 2021 Jan 7:bqaa247. doi: 10.1210/endocr/bqaa247. PMID: 33411889.

WNT4; Invasive lobular carcinoma biology
Shackleford MT, Rao DM, Bordeaux EK, Hicks HM, Towers CG, Sottnik JL, Oesterreich S, Sikora MJ. Estrogen Regulation of mTOR Signaling and Mitochondrial Function in Invasive Lobular Carcinoma Cell Lines Requires WNT4. Cancers (Basel). 2020 Oct 12;12(10):2931. doi: 10.3390/cancers12102931. PMID: 33053661; PMCID: PMC7650584.

WNT4; Ovarian cancer biology
[Jordan KR, Sikora MJ]*, Slansky JE, Minic A, Richer JK, Moroney MR, Hu J, Wolsky RJ, Watson ZL, Yamamoto TM, Costello JC, Clauset A, Behbakht K, Kumar TR, Bitler BG. The Capacity of the Ovarian Cancer Tumor Microenvironment to Integrate Inflammation Signaling Conveys a Shorter Disease-free Interval. Clin Cancer Res. 2020 Dec 1;26(23):6362-6373. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-20-1762. Epub 2020 Sep 14. PMID: 32928797.
*, Authors contributed equally.

Estrogen receptor function; Invasive lobular carcinoma biology
Sreekumar S, Levine KM, Sikora MJ, Chen J, Tasdemir N, Carter D, Dabbs DJ, Meier C, Basudan A, Boone D, McAuliffe PF, Jankowitz RC, Lee AV, Atkinson JM, Oesterreich S. Differential Regulation and Targeting of Estrogen Receptor α Turnover in Invasive Lobular Breast Carcinoma. Endocrinology. 2020 Sep 1;161(9):bqaa109. doi: 10.1210/endocr/bqaa109. PMID: 32609836; PMCID: PMC7438704.

WNT4
Rao DM, Shackleford MT, Bordeaux EK, Sottnik JL, Ferguson RL, Yamamoto TM, Wellberg EA, Bitler BG, Sikora MJ. Wnt family member 4 (WNT4) and WNT3A activate cell-autonomous Wnt signaling independent of porcupine O-acyltransferase or Wnt secretion. J Biol Chem. 2019 Dec 27;294(52):19950-19966. doi: 10.1074/jbc.RA119.009615. Epub 2019 Nov 18. PMID: 31740580; PMCID: PMC6937561.

Invasive lobular carcinoma biology; Anti-estrogen resistance in breast cancer
Levine KM, Priedigkeit N, Basudan A, Tasdemir N, Sikora MJ, Sokol ES, Hartmaier RJ, Ding K, Ahmad NZ, Watters RJ, Weiss KR, Blohmer JU, Denkert C, Machleidt A, Karsten MM, Boisen MM, Elishaev E, Lucas PC, Lee AV, Oesterreich S. FGFR4 overexpression and hotspot mutations in metastatic ER+ breast cancer are enriched in the lobular subtype. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2019 Jun 27;5:19. doi: 10.1038/s41523-019-0114-x. PMID: 31263748; PMCID: PMC6597581.

Invasive lobular carcinoma biology
Cao L, Basudan A, Sikora MJ, Bahreini A, Tasdemir N, Levine KM, Jankowitz RC, McAuliffe PF, Dabbs D, Haupt S, Haupt Y, Lucas PC, Lee AV, Oesterreich S, Atkinson JM. Frequent amplifications of ESR1, ERBB2 and MDM4 in primary invasive lobular breast carcinoma. Cancer Lett. 2019 Oct 1;461:21-30. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2019.06.011. Epub 2019 Jun 20. PMID: 31229512; PMCID: PMC6682463.

WNT4; Ovarian cancer biology
Yamamoto TM, McMellen A, Watson ZL, Aguilera J, Ferguson R, Nurmemmedov E, Thakar T, Moldovan GL, Kim H, Cittelly DM, Joglar AM, Brennecke EP, Wilson H, Behbakht K, Sikora MJ, Bitler BG. Activation of Wnt signaling promotes olaparib resistant ovarian cancer. Mol Carcinog. 2019 Oct;58(10):1770-1782. doi: 10.1002/mc.23064. Epub 2019 Jun 10. PMID: 31219654; PMCID: PMC7537108.

Estrogen receptor function; Invasive lobular carcinoma biology
Bossart EA, Tasdemir N, Sikora MJ, Bahreini A, Levine KM, Chen J, Basudan A, Jacobsen BM, Burns TF, Oesterreich S. SNAIL is induced by tamoxifen and leads to growth inhibition in invasive lobular breast carcinoma. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2019 Jun;175(2):327-337. doi: 10.1007/s10549-019-05161-8. Epub 2019 Feb 23. PMID: 30798422; PMCID: PMC6625318.

Estrogen receptor function; Ovarian cancer biology
Andersen CL, Boisen MM, Sikora MJ, Ma T, Tseng G, Suryawanshi S, Vlad A, Elishaev E, Edwards RP, Oesterreich S. The Evolution of Estrogen Receptor Signaling in the Progression of Endometriosis to Endometriosis-Associated Ovarian Cancer. Horm Cancer. 2018 Dec;9(6):399-407. doi: 10.1007/s12672-018-0350-9. Epub 2018 Oct 9. PMID: 30302736 

Estrogen receptor function; Anti-estrogen resistance in breast cancer; Invasive lobular carcinoma biology
Tasdemir N, Bossart EA, Li Z, Zhu L, Sikora MJ, Levine KM, Jacobsen BM, Tseng GC, Davidson NE, Oesterreich S. Comprehensive phenotypic characterization of human invasive lobular carcinoma cell lines in 2D and 3D cultures. Cancer Res. 2018 Sep 18. pii: canres.1416.2018. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-18-1416. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 30228172.

Anti-estrogen resistance in breast cancer; Invasive lobular carcinoma biology
Du T, Sikora MJ, Levine KM, Tasdemir N, Riggins RB, Wendell SG, Van Houten B, Oesterreich S. Key regulators of lipid metabolism drive endocrine resistance in invasive lobular breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res. 2018 Sep 4;20(1):106. doi: 10.1186/s13058-018-1041-8. PMID: 30180878; PMCID: PMC6124012.

Estrogen receptor function; Anti-estrogen resistance in breast cancer; Invasive lobular carcinoma biology
Martin LA, Ribas R, Simigdala N, Schuster E, Pancholi S, Tenev T, Gellert P, Buluwela L, Harrod A, Thornhill A, Nikitorowicz-Buniak J, Bhamra A, Turgeon MO, Poulogiannis G, Gao Q, Martins V, Hills M, Garcia-Murillas I, Fribbens C, Patani N, Li Z, Sikora MJ, Turner N, Zwart W, Oesterreich S, Carroll J, Ali S, Dowsett M. Discovery of naturally occurring ESR1 mutations in breast cancer cell lines modelling endocrine resistance. Nat Commun. 2017 Nov 30;8(1):1865. PMID: 29192207.

Pharmacogenomics
Hertz DL, Kidwell KM, Hilsenbeck SG, Oesterreich S, Osborne CK, Philips S, Chenault C, Hartmaier RJ, Skaar TC, Sikora MJ, Rae JM. CYP2D6 genotype is not associated with survival in breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen: results from a population-based study. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2017 Nov;166(1):277-287. doi: 10.1007/s10549-017-4400-8. Epub 2017 Jul 20. PMID: 28730340.

Estrogen receptor function (Commentary)
Hsu JY, Sikora MJ. CRISPR Fish Reel in Novel Roles for Estrogen Receptors in Reproduction. Endocrinology. 2017 Jul 1;158(7):2082-2083. doi: 10.1210/en.2017-00417. PMID: 28881866

Estrogen receptor function; Ovarian cancer biology
Andersen CL, Sikora MJ, Boisen MM, Ma T, Christie A, Tseng G, Park YS, Luthra S, Chandran U, Haluska P, Mantia-Smaldone G, Odunsi K, McLean K, Lee AV, Elishaev E, Edwards RP, Oesterreich S. Active estrogen receptor-alpha signaling in ovarian cancer models and clinical specimens. Clin Cancer Res. 2017 Jul 15;23(14):3802-3812. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-16-1501. Epub 2017 Jan 10. PMID: 28073843.

Estrogen receptor function (Review)
Sikora MJ. Family Matters: Collaboration and Conflict Among the Steroid Receptors Raises a Need for Group Therapy. Endocrinology. 2016 Dec;157(12):4553-4560. PMID: 27835038; PMCID: PMC5133350.

WNT4; Invasive lobular carcinoma biology; Estrogen receptor function
Sikora MJ, Jacobsen BM, Levine K, Chen J, Davidson NE, Lee AV, Alexander CM, Oesterreich S. WNT4 mediates estrogen receptor signaling and endocrine resistance in invasive lobular carcinoma cell lines. Breast Cancer Res. 2016 Sep 20;18(1):92. doi: 10.1186/s13058-016-0748-7. PMID: 27650553; PMCID: PMC5028957.

Methods; Estrogen receptor function
Sikora MJ, Johnson MD, Lee AV, Oesterreich S. Endocrine Response Phenotypes Are Altered by Charcoal-Stripped Serum Variability. Endocrinology. 2016 Oct;157(10):3760-3766. PMID: 27459541; PMCID: PMC5045515.

Invasive lobular carcinoma biology
Dennison JB, Shahmoradgoli M, Liu W, Ju Z, Meric-Bernstam F, Perou CM, Sahin AA, Welm A, Oesterreich S, Sikora MJ, Brown RE, Mills GB. High Intratumoral Stromal Content Defines Reactive Breast Cancer as a Low-risk Breast Cancer Subtype. Clin Cancer Res. 2016 Oct 15;22(20):5068-5078. PMID: 27172895; PMCID: PMC5103285.

Anti-estrogen resistance in breast cancer; Estrogen receptor function
Capper CP, Larios JM, Sikora MJ, Johnson MD, Rae JM. The CYP17A1 inhibitor abiraterone exhibits estrogen receptor agonist activity in breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2016 May;157(1):23-30. doi: 10.1007/s10549-016-3774-3. PMID: 27083183.

Ovarian cancer biology
Delgado E, Boisen MM, Laskey R, Chen R, Song C, Sallit J, Yochum ZA, Andersen CL, Sikora MJ, Wagner J, Safe S, Elishaev E, Lee A, Edwards RP, Haluska P, Tseng G, Schurdak M, Oesterreich S. High expression of orphan nuclear receptor NR4A1 in a subset of ovarian tumors with worse outcome. Gynecol Oncol. 2016 May;141(2):348-56. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2016.02.030. PMID: 26946093; PMCID: PMC5154956.

Invasive lobular carcinoma biology; Estrogen receptor function
Sikora MJ, Cooper KL, Bahreini A, Luthra S, Wang G, Chandran UR, Davidson NE, Dabbs DJ, Welm AL, Oesterreich S. Invasive lobular carcinoma cell lines are characterized by unique estrogen-mediated gene expression patterns and altered tamoxifen response. Cancer Res. 2014 Mar 1;74(5):1463-74. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-13-2779. PMID: 24425047; PMCID: PMC3955299. 

Invasive lobular carcinoma biology (Review)
Sikora MJ, Jankowitz RC, Dabbs DJ, Oesterreich S. Invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast: patient response to systemic endocrine therapy and hormone response in model systems. Steroids. 2013 Jun;78(6):568-75. doi: 10.1016/j.steroids.2012.11.002. Review. PMID: 23178159. 

Anti-estrogen resistance in breast cancer
Sikora MJ, Strumba V, Lippman ME, Johnson MD, Rae JM. Mechanisms of estrogen-independent breast cancer growth driven by low estrogen concentrations are unique versus complete estrogen deprivation. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2012 Aug;134(3):1027-39. doi: 10.1007/s10549-012-2032-6. PMID: 22456984; PMCID: PMC3951731. 

Methods; Pharmacogenomics
Sikora MJ, Thibert JN, Salter J, Dowsett M, Johnson MD, Rae JM. High-efficiency genotype analysis from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissues. Pharmacogenomics J. 2011 Oct;11(5):348-58. doi: 10.1038/tpj.2010.50. PMID: 20548328; PMCID: PMC2996486. 

Methods
Anderson MA, Brenner DE, Scheiman JM, Simeone DM, Singh N, Sikora MJ, Zhao L, Mertens AN, Rae JM. Reliable gene expression measurements from fine needle aspirates of pancreatic tumors: effect of amplicon length and quality assessment. J Mol Diagn. 2010 Sep;12(5):566-75. doi: 10.2353/jmoldx.2010.090107. PMID: 20709792; PMCID: PMC2928420.

Estrogen receptor function
Sikora MJ, Rae JM, Johnson MD, Desta Z. Efavirenz directly modulates the oestrogen receptor and induces breast cancer cell growth. HIV Med. 2010 Oct 1;11(9):603-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-1293.2010.00831.x. PMID: 20408889; PMCID: PMC2943013

Pharmacogenomics
Henry NL, Rae JM, Li L, Azzouz F, Skaar TC, Desta Z, Sikora MJ, Philips S, Nguyen AT, Storniolo AM, Hayes DF, Flockhart DA, Stearns V; Consortium on Breast Cancer Pharmacogenomics Investigators. Association between CYP2D6 genotype and tamoxifen-induced hot flashes in a prospective cohort. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2009 Oct;117(3):571-5. doi: 10.1007/s10549-009-0309-1. PMID: 19153830; PMCID: PMC2746261.

Pharmacogenomics
Rae JM, Sikora MJ, Henry NL, Li L, Kim S, Oesterreich S, Skaar TC, Nguyen AT, Desta Z, Storniolo AM, Flockhart DA, Hayes DF, Stearns V; COBRA investigators. Cytochrome P450 2D6 activity predicts discontinuation of tamoxifen therapy in breast cancer patients. Pharmacogenomics J. 2009 Aug;9(4):258-64. doi: 10.1038/tpj.2009.14. PMID: 19421167; PMCID: PMC2991048.

Anti-estrogen resistance in breast cancer
Sikora MJ, Cordero KE, Larios JM, Johnson MD, Lippman ME, Rae JM. The androgen metabolite 5alpha-androstane-3beta,17beta-diol (3betaAdiol) induces breast cancer growth via estrogen receptor: implications for aromatase inhibitor resistance. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2009 May;115(2):289-96. doi: 10.1007/s10549-008-0080-8. PMID: 18521740; PMCID: PMC2728015.

Pharmacogenomics
Snider NT, Sikora MJ, Sridar C, Feuerstein TJ, Rae JM, Hollenberg PF. The endocannabinoid anandamide is a substrate for the human polymorphic cytochrome P450 2D6. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2008 Nov;327(2):538-45. doi: 10.1124/jpet.108.141796. PMID: 18698000; PMCID: PMC2704579.

Cancer pharmacology
Sikora MJ, Bauer JA, Verhaegen M, Belbin TJ, Prystowsky MB, Taylor JC, Brenner JC, Wang S, Soengas MS, Bradford CR, Carey TE. Anti-oxidant treatment enhances anti-tumor cytotoxicity of (-)-gossypol. Cancer Biol Ther. 2008 May;7(5):767-76. PMID: 18376141; PMCID: PMC4157391.

Cytogenetics
Zabawski J, Wiktor A, Sikora M, Van Dyke DL. Use Reference Bands to Accurately Estimate ISCN Band Levels 400, 550, and 850. J Assoc Genet Technol. 2005;31(1):9-13. PMID: 15829739.