Rushika Perera, PhD
Associate Professor
Anatomy
School of Medicine

In our lab we study how autophagy and the lysosome regulate the response to cellular stress to promote cancer progression.

Awards

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• Gunter Blobel Early Career Award, American Society for Cell Biology, 2021
• Director's New Innovator Award, National Institute of Health, 2016-2021
• Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award, Damon Runyon Cancer Reserach Foundation, 2016-2020
• Career Development Award, AACR-Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, 2016-2018
• NEXTGen Star, American Association for Cancer Research, 2015

Websites

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• @@rushika_perera on Twitter (twitter.com)
• Perera Lab (rushikapereralab.com)
• BMS Graduate Program (bms.ucsf.edu)
• Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (cancer.ucsf.edu)

Grants and Projects

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• Targeting the autophagy-lysosome system to block pancreatic cancer, NIH, 2021-2026
• Dissecting new mechanisms of lysosome quality control in health and disease, NIH, 2021-2026
• Identifying Molecular Drivers of Cellular Plasticity in Pancreatic Cancer, NIH, 2020-2025
• Tracking tumor evolution through in vivo organelle profiling, NIH, 2016-2021

Publications (43)

Top publication keywords:
Pancreatic NeoplasmsIron-Sulfur ProteinsNeoplasmsIntracellular MembranesCell PlasticityCarcinoma, Pancreatic DuctalAutophagosomesMechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 1AutophagyMicrophthalmosLysosomesCell BiologyOsteopontinZinc Finger Protein Gli2Oncogenes

• Lysosomal retargeting of Myoferlin mitigates membrane stress to enable pancreatic cancer growth.
  Nature cell biology 2021 Gupta S, Yano J, Mercier V, Htwe HH, Shin HR, Rademaker G, Cakir Z, Ituarte T, Wen KW, Kim GE, Zoncu R, Roux A, Dawson DW, Perera RM
• Autophagy promotes immune evasion of pancreatic cancer by degrading MHC-I.
  Nature 2020 Yamamoto K, Venida A, Yano J, Biancur DE, Kakiuchi M, Gupta S, Sohn ASW, Mukhopadhyay S, Lin EY, Parker SJ, Banh RS, Paulo JA, Wen KW, Debnath J, Kim GE, Mancias JD, Fearon DT, Perera RM, Kimmelman AC
• Transcriptional control of subtype switching ensures adaptation and growth of pancreatic cancer.
  eLife 2019 Adams CR, Htwe HH, Marsh T, Wang AL, Montoya ML, Subbaraj L, Tward AD, Bardeesy N, Perera RM
• Transcriptional control of autophagy-lysosome function drives pancreatic cancer metabolism.
  Nature 2015 Perera RM, Stoykova S, Nicolay BN, Ross KN, Fitamant J, Boukhali M, Lengrand J, Deshpande V, Selig MK, Ferrone CR, Settleman J, Stephanopoulos G, Dyson NJ, Zoncu R, Ramaswamy S, Haas W, Bardeesy N
• Lysosomes as coordinators of cellular catabolism, metabolic signalling and organ physiology.
  Nature reviews. Molecular cell biology 2023 Settembre C, Perera RM

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• Functional characterization of Alzheimer's disease genetic variants in microglia.
  Nature genetics 2023 Yang X, Wen J, Yang H, Jones IR, Zhu X, Liu W, Li B, Clelland CD, Luo W, Wong MY, Ren X, Cui X, Song M, Liu H, Chen C, Eng N, Ravichandran M, Sun Y, Lee D, Van Buren E, Jiang MZ, Chan CSY, Ye CJ, …
• Emerging roles of the MiT/TFE factors in cancer.
  Trends in cancer 2023 Zoncu R, Perera RM
• Coordinated Transcriptional and Catabolic Programs Support Iron-Dependent Adaptation to RAS-MAPK Pathway Inhibition in Pancreatic Cancer.
  Cancer discovery 2022 Ravichandran M, Hu J, Cai C, Ward NP, Venida A, Foakes C, Kuljanin M, Yang A, Hennessey CJ, Yang Y, Desousa BR, Rademaker G, Staes AAL, Cakir Z, Jain IH, Aguirre AJ, Mancias JD, Shen Y, DeNicola GM, …
• Lysosomal GPCR-like protein LYCHOS signals cholesterol sufficiency to mTORC1.
  Science (New York, N.Y.) 2022 Shin HR, Citron YR, Wang L, Tribouillard L, Goul CS, Stipp R, Sugasawa Y, Jain A, Samson N, Lim CY, Davis OB, Castaneda-Carpio D, Qian M, Nomura DK, Perera RM, Park E, Covey DF, Laplante M, Evers AS, …
• Autophagy in cancer cell remodeling and quality control.
  Molecular cell 2022 Hernandez GA, Perera RM
• Built to last: lysosome remodeling and repair in health and disease.
  Trends in cell biology 2022 Zoncu R, Perera RM
• Challenges and opportunities in 2021.
  Nature cancer 2021 Akkari L, Finley SD, Ho PC, Jenkins M, Maier BB, McGranahan N, Mutebi M, Perera RM, Robles-Espinoza CD, Vardhana S, Wan L, Xu MM
• Zooming in on the cell biology of disease.
  Molecular biology of the cell 2021 Perera RM
• Autophagy in major human diseases.
  The EMBO journal 2021 Klionsky DJ, Petroni G, Amaravadi RK, Baehrecke EH, Ballabio A, Boya P, Bravo-San Pedro JM, Cadwell K, Cecconi F, Choi AMK, Choi ME, Chu CT, Codogno P, Colombo MI, Cuervo AM, Deretic V, Dikic I, …
• Oncogene-regulated release of extracellular vesicles.
  Developmental cell 2021 Kilinc S, Paisner R, Camarda R, Gupta S, Momcilovic O, Kohnz RA, Avsaroglu B, L'Etoile ND, Perera RM, Nomura DK, Goga A
• NPC1-mTORC1 Signaling Couples Cholesterol Sensing to Organelle Homeostasis and Is a Targetable Pathway in Niemann-Pick Type C.
  Developmental cell 2020 Davis OB, Shin HR, Lim CY, Wu EY, Kukurugya M, Maher CF, Perera RM, Ordonez MP, Zoncu R
• Selective autophagy of MHC-I promotes immune evasion of pancreatic cancer.
  Autophagy 2020 Yamamoto K, Venida A, Perera RM, Kimmelman AC
• Host Control of Tumor Feeding: Autophagy Holds the Key.
  Cell metabolism 2019 Venida A, Perera RM
• MiT/TFE Family of Transcription Factors, Lysosomes, and Cancer.
  Annual review of cancer biology 2018 Perera RM, Di Malta C, Ballabio A
• Transcriptional activation of RagD GTPase controls mTORC1 and promotes cancer growth.
  Science (New York, N.Y.) 2017 Di Malta C, Siciliano D, Calcagni A, Monfregola J, Punzi S, Pastore N, Eastes AN, Davis O, De Cegli R, Zampelli A, Di Giovannantonio LG, Nusco E, Platt N, Guida A, Ogmundsdottir MH, Lanfrancone L, …
• Lysosomal cholesterol activates mTORC1 via an SLC38A9-Niemann-Pick C1 signaling complex.
  Science (New York, N.Y.) 2017 Castellano BM, Thelen AM, Moldavski O, Feltes M, van der Welle RE, Mydock-McGrane L, Jiang X, van Eijkeren RJ, Davis OB, Louie SM, Perera RM, Covey DF, Nomura DK, Ory DS, Zoncu R
• Beige Adipocyte Maintenance Is Regulated by Autophagy-Induced Mitochondrial Clearance.
  Cell metabolism 2016 Altshuler-Keylin S, Shinoda K, Hasegawa Y, Ikeda K, Hong H, Kang Q, Yang Y, Perera RM, Debnath J, Kajimura S
• The Lysosome as a Regulatory Hub.
  Annual review of cell and developmental biology 2016 Perera RM, Zoncu R
• Pancreatic Cancer Metabolism: Breaking It Down to Build It Back Up.
  Cancer discovery 2015 Perera RM, Bardeesy N
• YAP Inhibition Restores Hepatocyte Differentiation in Advanced HCC, Leading to Tumor Regression.
  Cell reports 2015 Fitamant J, Kottakis F, Benhamouche S, Tian HS, Chuvin N, Parachoniak CA, Nagle JM, Perera RM, Lapouge M, Deshpande V, Zhu AX, Lai A, Min B, Hoshida Y, Avruch J, Sia D, Campreciós G, McClatchey AI, …
• Stromal response to Hedgehog signaling restrains pancreatic cancer progression.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2014 Lee JJ, Perera RM, Wang H, Wu DC, Liu XS, Han S, Fitamant J, Jones PD, Ghanta KS, Kawano S, Nagle JM, Deshpande V, Boucher Y, Kato T, Chen JK, Willmann JK, Bardeesy N, Beachy PA
• CDK4/6 and IGF1 receptor inhibitors synergize to suppress the growth of p16INK4A-deficient pancreatic cancers.
  Cancer research 2014 Heilmann AM, Perera RM, Ecker V, Nicolay BN, Bardeesy N, Benes CH, Dyson NJ
• Glutamine supports pancreatic cancer growth through a KRAS-regulated metabolic pathway.
  Nature 2013 Son J, Lyssiotis CA, Ying H, Wang X, Hua S, Ligorio M, Perera RM, Ferrone CR, Mullarky E, Shyh-Chang N, Kang Y, Fleming JB, Bardeesy N, Asara JM, Haigis MC, DePinho RA, Cantley LC, Kimmelman AC
• Ready, set, go: the EGF receptor at the pancreatic cancer starting line.
  Cancer cell 2012 Perera RM, Bardeesy N
• On oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes in the mammary gland.
  Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology 2012 Perera RM, Bardeesy N
• Cancer: when antioxidants are bad.
  Nature 2011 Perera RM, Bardeesy N
• The inositol 5-phosphatase SHIP2 regulates endocytic clathrin-coated pit dynamics.
  The Journal of cell biology 2010 Nakatsu F, Perera RM, Lucast L, Zoncu R, Domin J, Gertler FB, Toomre D, De Camilli P
• A genome-wide screen for microdeletions reveals disruption of polarity complex genes in diverse human cancers.
  Cancer research 2010 Rothenberg SM, Mohapatra G, Rivera MN, Winokur D, Greninger P, Nitta M, Sadow PM, Sooriyakumar G, Brannigan BW, Ulman MJ, Perera RM, Wang R, Tam A, Ma XJ, Erlander M, Sgroi DC, Rocco JW, Lingen MW, …
• Mechanistic Insights into Membrane Remodeling Through BAR-Domain Proteins.
  The FASEB Journal 2009 Adam Frost, Carsten Mim, Rushika Perera, Krasimir Spasov, Edward Egelman, Pietro De Camilli, Vinzenz M Unger
• A phosphoinositide switch controls the maturation and signaling properties of APPL endosomes.
  Cell 2009 Zoncu R, Perera RM, Balkin DM, Pirruccello M, Toomre D, De Camilli P
• Structural basis of membrane invagination by F-BAR domains.
  Cell 2008 Frost A, Perera R, Roux A, Spasov K, Destaing O, Egelman EH, De Camilli P, Unger VM
• Internalization, intracellular trafficking, and biodistribution of monoclonal antibody 806: a novel anti-epidermal growth factor receptor antibody.
  Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.) 2007 Perera RM, Zoncu R, Johns TG, Pypaert M, Lee FT, Mellman I, Old LJ, Toomre DK, Scott AM
• The efficacy of epidermal growth factor receptor-specific antibodies against glioma xenografts is influenced by receptor levels, activation status, and heterodimerization.
  Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 2007 Johns TG, Perera RM, Vernes SC, Vitali AA, Cao DX, Cavenee WK, Scott AM, Furnari FB
• Loss of endocytic clathrin-coated pits upon acute depletion of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2007 Zoncu R, Perera RM, Sebastian R, Nakatsu F, Chen H, Balla T, Ayala G, Toomre D, De Camilli PV
• Two synaptojanin 1 isoforms are recruited to clathrin-coated pits at different stages.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2006 Perera RM, Zoncu R, Lucast L, De Camilli P, Toomre D
• Treatment of human tumor xenografts with monoclonal antibody 806 in combination with a prototypical epidermal growth factor receptor-specific antibody generates enhanced antitumor activity.
  Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 2005 Perera RM, Narita Y, Furnari FB, Gan HK, Murone C, Ahlkvist M, Luwor RB, Burgess AW, Stockert E, Jungbluth AA, Old LJ, Cavenee WK, Scott AM, Johns TG
• The tumor-specific de2-7 epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) promotes cells survival and heterodimerizes with the wild-type EGFR.
  Oncogene 2004 Luwor RB, Zhu HJ, Walker F, Vitali AA, Perera RM, Burgess AW, Scott AM, Johns TG
• Antitumor efficacy of cytotoxic drugs and the monoclonal antibody 806 is enhanced by the EGF receptor inhibitor AG1478.
  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2003 Johns TG, Luwor RB, Murone C, Walker F, Weinstock J, Vitali AA, Perera RM, Jungbluth AA, Stockert E, Old LJ, Nice EC, Burgess AW, Scott AM