Isabelle R. Miousse, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Member, Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute
Ph.D., McGill University, Canada
Email: IRacinemiousse@uams.edu
Office: 501-686-5783 – Biomedical Research Center 1 B421E
Lab: 501-686-5194 – Biomedical Research Center 1 B410
Fax: 501-686-8169
Research Focus
My laboratory studies cancer metabolism, or the ways in which cancer cells and tumors use nutrients to produce energy and grow. My area of research expertise is cancer epigenetics, and I specialize in the metabolism of folate, vitamin B12, and methionine as donors of methyl groups for DNA and histone methylation. I apply this expertise to studying fundamental differences in the requirements and utilization of the methyl donor and essential amino acid methionine between cancer and normal cells. To do so, my lab use immunocompetent murine cancer models and molecular biology approaches to study gene and protein expression in vitro and in vivo. My goal is to leverage characteristics of tumor metabolism to alleviate death and suffering due to cancer.
Projects
- Protecting healthy tissue during cancer radiotherapy
- Methionine/KRAS interplay in an animal model of rectal cancer
- The molecular bases of methionine dependence in cancer
Selected Publications
Wallis KF, Morehead LC, Bird JT, Byrum SE, Miousse IR. Differences in cell death in methionine versus cysteine depletion. Environ Mol Mutagen. 2021 Mar;62(3):216-226.
- Wallis KF, Melnyk SB, Miousse IR. Sex-Specific Effects of Dietary Methionine Restriction on the Intestinal Microbiome. Nutrients. 2020;12(3):781. PMC7146121
- Miousse I, Tobacyk J, Quick C, Jamshidi-Parsian A, Skinner C, Kore R, Melnyk S, Kutanzi K, Xia F, Griffin R, Koturbash I. Modulation of Dietary Methionine Intake Elicits Potent, yet Distinct, Anticancer Effects on Primary Versus Metastatic Tumors. Carcinogenesis. 2018;39(9):1117-1126. PMC6148987.
- Coelho D, Kim J, Miousse I, Fung S, du Moulin M, Buers I, Suormala T, Burda P, Frapolli M, Stucki M, Nürnberg P, Thiele H, Robenek H, Höhne W, Longo N, Pasquali M, Mengel E, Watkins D, Shoubridge E, Majewski J, Rosenblatt D, Fowler B, Rutsch F, Baumgartner M. Mutations in ABCD4 cause a new inborn error of vitamin B12 metabolism. Nature Genetics. 2012; 44(10):1152-1155.
Grant Funding
NIH/NIGMS COBRE (P20): Arkansas Integrative Metabolic Research Center. Dietary methionine restriction as a therapeutic strategy for metastatic melanoma. Goals: Developing an independently funded research program investigating the use of methionine restriction as an adjuvant therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors in melanoma. Role: Project Leader- Arkansas Bioscience Institute/UAMS Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation. Supplement for: Power training as a non-pharmacological therapeutic approach in cancer-induced cachexia. Goals: Identifying the role of H3K4me3 in gene regulation in cancer cachexia. Role: PI
- Team Science Award. UAMS Cancer Institute. Synergizing methionine restriction with radiation therapy in KRAS mutant rectal cancer. Goals: Decreasing the dietary intake of the essential amino acid methionine to sensitize KRAS mutant rectal tumors to radiation while protecting the healthy tissue of the gastrointestinal tract. Role: co-PI
- KL2 Mentored Research Career Development Scholar Award Program. NIH/NCATS. Decreasing methionine intake to improve survival in patients with metastatic melanoma. Goals: Acquiring training in the design and conduct of clinical trials. Role: Scholar
- Pilot Award, UAMS College of Medicine. Methionine and autophagy in metastatic melanoma. Goals: Using proteomics to investigate the molecular bases of methionine dependence in melanoma. Role: PI
Staff and Students
- Sarita Garg, Staff Scientist (2021-present)
- Clai Morehead, M.D./Ph.D. Candidate (2019-2023)
- Aidan Doss, summer student (2022)
- Tripti Shukla, summer student (2021)
- Katherine Wallis, Research Technologist (2019-2021)