Nair Laboratory at William & Mary Cancer invasion and metastasis

Publications

Selected publications from the Nair Laboratory and related work are listed below.

Selected Publications

MLL1 regulates cytokine-driven cell migration and metastasis
MLL1 regulates cytokine-driven cell migration and metastasis
Praful R. Nair, Ludmila Danilova, Estibaliz Gómez-de-Mariscal, Dongjoo Kim, Rong Fan, Arrate Muñoz-Barrutia, Elana J. Fertig, Denis Wirtz
Science Advances  ·  15 Mar 2024  ·  doi:10.1126/sciadv.adk0785
metastasis epigenetics cell-migration

All Publications

2026

CODAvision: best practices and a user-friendly interface for rapid, customizable segmentation of medical images
CODAvision: best practices and a user-friendly interface for rapid, customizable segmentation of medical images
Valentina Matos-Romero, Jaime Gómez-Becerril, André Forjaz, Lucie Dequiedt, Tyler Newton, …, Avi Rosenberg, Ralph H. Hruban, Arrate Muñoz-Barrutia, Denis Wirtz, Ashley L. Kiemen
Nature Protocols  ·  07 Jul 2026  ·  doi:10.1038/s41596-026-01404-3
A 3D multi-compartment assembloid to study combined immune cell infiltration and cytotoxicity
A 3D multi-compartment assembloid to study combined immune cell infiltration and cytotoxicity
Eban A. Hanna, Ashleigh J. Crawford, Wenxuan Du, Adrian Johnston, David Schell, …, Kehan Ren, Yeongseo Lim, Vasco Queiroga, Praful Nair, Denis Wirtz
Cell Reports Methods  ·  01 Feb 2026  ·  doi:10.1016/j.crmeth.2026.101307

2025

Selecting the optimal cell migration assay: fundamentals and practical guidelines
Selecting the optimal cell migration assay: fundamentals and practical guidelines
Wenxuan Du, Praful R. Nair, Andre Forjaz, Jude M. Phillip, Pei-Hsun Wu, Denis Wirtz
Nature Methods  ·  18 Dec 2025  ·  doi:10.1038/s41592-025-02890-1
Methods to analyze cell migration data: fundamentals and practical guidelines
Methods to analyze cell migration data: fundamentals and practical guidelines
Pei-Hsun Wu, Jude M. Phillip, Wenxuan Du, Andre Forjaz, Praful R. Nair, Denis Wirtz
Nature Methods  ·  18 Dec 2025  ·  doi:10.1038/s41592-025-02935-5
Hyper-migratory CAR T cells alleviate ovarian cancer metastatic burden and improve prognosis
Hyper-migratory CAR T cells alleviate ovarian cancer metastatic burden and improve prognosis
Praful R. Nair, Eban Hanna, Saurabh Joshi, Victoria Duarte-Alvarado, Challice L. Bonifant, Denis Wirtz
openRxiv  ·  30 Sep 2025  ·  doi:10.1101/2025.09.28.679084
3D map-guided modeling of functional endometrial tissue using multi-compartment assembloids
3D map-guided modeling of functional endometrial tissue using multi-compartment assembloids
Kehan A. Ren, Victoria Duarte-Alvarado, Xin Di Zhou, Bryan Ho, André Forjaz, …, Gretchen M. Alicea-Rebecca, Saurabh Joshi, Praful Nair, Eban A Hanna, Denis Wirtz
openRxiv  ·  23 Aug 2025  ·  doi:10.1101/2025.08.22.671545

2024

High-motility pro-tumorigenic monocytes drive macrophage enrichment in the tumor microenvironment
High-motility pro-tumorigenic monocytes drive macrophage enrichment in the tumor microenvironment
Wenxuan Du, Bryan Zhou, André Forjaz, Sarah M. Shin, Fan Wu, …, Pei-Hsun Wu, Jude M. Phillip, Won Jin Ho, David E. Sanin, Denis Wirtz
openRxiv  ·  18 Jul 2024  ·  doi:10.1101/2024.07.16.603739
Small Extracellular Vesicles Promote Stiffness-mediated Metastasis
Small Extracellular Vesicles Promote Stiffness-mediated Metastasis
Alexandra Sneider, Ying Liu, Bartholomew Starich, Wenxuan Du, Praful R. Nair, …, Mehran Habibi, Arrate Muñoz-Barrutia, Luo Gu, T.S. Karin Eisinger-Mathason, Denis Wirtz
Cancer Research Communications  ·  09 May 2024  ·  doi:10.1158/2767-9764.CRC-23-0431
Correction: E-cadherin interacts with EGFR resulting in hyper-activation of ERK in multiple models of breast cancer
Correction: E-cadherin interacts with EGFR resulting in hyper-activation of ERK in multiple models of breast cancer
Gabriella C. Russo, Ashleigh J. Crawford, David Clark, Julie Cui, Ryan Carney, …, Meng-Horng Lee, Hon S. Leong, Hui Zhang, Vito W. Rebecca, Denis Wirtz
Oncogene  ·  05 Apr 2024  ·  doi:10.1038/s41388-024-03023-2
A 3D in vitro assay to study combined immune cell infiltration and cytotoxicity
A 3D in vitro assay to study combined immune cell infiltration and cytotoxicity
Ashleigh J. Crawford, Adrian Johnston, Wenxuan Du, Eban A. Hanna, David Schell, …, Fan Wu, Kehan Ren, Yeongseo Lim, Praful Nair, Denis Wirtz
openRxiv  ·  28 Mar 2024  ·  doi:10.1101/2024.03.27.586980
MLL1 regulates cytokine-driven cell migration and metastasis
MLL1 regulates cytokine-driven cell migration and metastasis
Praful R. Nair, Ludmila Danilova, Estibaliz Gómez-de-Mariscal, Dongjoo Kim, Rong Fan, Arrate Muñoz-Barrutia, Elana J. Fertig, Denis Wirtz
Science Advances  ·  15 Mar 2024  ·  doi:10.1126/sciadv.adk0785
metastasis epigenetics cell-migration
Substrate stiffness modulates the emergence and magnitude of senescence phenotypes in dermal fibroblasts
Substrate stiffness modulates the emergence and magnitude of senescence phenotypes in dermal fibroblasts
Bartholomew Starich, Fan Yang, Derin Tanrioven, Heng-Chung Kung, Joanne Baek, …, Jeremy Walston, Sean Sun, Pei-Hsun Wu, Denis Wirtz, Jude M. Phillip
openRxiv  ·  07 Feb 2024  ·  doi:10.1101/2024.02.06.579151

2023

Engineering self-propelled tumor-infiltrating CAR T cells using synthetic velocity receptors
Engineering self-propelled tumor-infiltrating CAR T cells using synthetic velocity receptors
Adrian C. Johnston, Gretchen M. Alicea, Cameron C. Lee, Payal V. Patel, Eban A. Hanna, …, Challice L. Bonifant, Rong Fan, Ashley L. Kiemen, Pei-Hsun Wu, Denis Wirtz
openRxiv  ·  14 Dec 2023  ·  doi:10.1101/2023.12.13.571595

2022

MLL1 regulates cytokine-driven cell migration and metastasis
MLL1 regulates cytokine-driven cell migration and metastasis
Praful R. Nair, Ludmila Danilova, Estibaliz Gómez-de-Mariscal, Dongjoo Kim, Rong Fan, Arrate Muñoz-Barrutia, Elana J. Fertig, Denis Wirtz
openRxiv  ·  19 Oct 2022  ·  doi:10.1101/2022.10.18.512715
Cell Trafficking at the Intersection of the Tumor Immune Compartments
Cell Trafficking at the Intersection of the Tumor–Immune Compartments
Wenxuan Du, Praful Nair, Adrian Johnston, Pei-Hsun Wu, Denis Wirtz
Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering  ·  06 Jun 2022  ·  doi:10.1146/annurev-bioeng-110320-110749

2019

Polymersomes
Polymersomes
Praful Nair, David Christian, Dennis E. Discher
The Giant Vesicle Book  ·  19 Nov 2019  ·  doi:10.1201/9781315152516-26
Delivering Combination Chemotherapies and Targeting Oncogenic Pathways via Polymeric Drug Delivery Systems
Delivering Combination Chemotherapies and Targeting Oncogenic Pathways via Polymeric Drug Delivery Systems
Praful R. Nair
Polymers  ·  05 Apr 2019  ·  doi:10.3390/polym11040630
Enabling migration by moderation: YAP TAZ are essential for persistent migration
Enabling migration by moderation: YAP/TAZ are essential for persistent migration
Praful R. Nair, Denis Wirtz
Journal of Cell Biology  ·  14 Mar 2019  ·  doi:10.1083/jcb.201902035

2018

Filomicelles Deliver a Chemo-Differentiation Combination of Paclitaxel and Retinoic Acid That Durably Represses Carcinomas in Liver to Prolong Survival
Filomicelles Deliver a Chemo-Differentiation Combination of Paclitaxel and Retinoic Acid That Durably Represses Carcinomas in Liver to Prolong Survival
Praful R. Nair, Cory Alvey, Xiaoling Jin, Jerome Irianto, Irena Ivanovska, Dennis E. Discher
Bioconjugate Chemistry  ·  16 Feb 2018  ·  doi:10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.7b00816

2017

Spray stability of self-assembled filaments for delivery
Spray stability of self-assembled filaments for delivery
Abdullah Mahmud, Takamasa Harada, Karthikan Rajagopal, David A. Christian, Praful Nair, Ryan Murphy, Dennis E. Discher
Journal of Controlled Release  ·  01 Oct 2017  ·  doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2017.05.026

2016

Filomicelles from Aromatic Diblock Copolymers Increase Paclitaxel-Induced Tumor Cell Death and Aneuploidy Compared with Aliphatic Copolymers
Filomicelles from Aromatic Diblock Copolymers Increase Paclitaxel-Induced Tumor Cell Death and Aneuploidy Compared with Aliphatic Copolymers
Praful R Nair, SA Karthick, Kyle R Spinler, Mohammad R Vakili, Afsaneh Lavasanifar, Dennis E Discher
Nanomedicine  ·  13 May 2016  ·  doi:10.2217/nnm-2016-0007

2014

Highly cited research articles in Journal of Controlled Release: Commentaries and perspectives by authors
Highly cited research articles in Journal of Controlled Release: Commentaries and perspectives by authors
Nicholas A. Peppas, Ruth Duncan, Gary E. Wnek, Allan S. Hoffman, Guang Hui Gao, …, Horacio Cabral, Kazunori Kataoka, Praful R. Nair, Dennis Discher, Samir Mitragotri
Journal of Controlled Release  ·  01 Sep 2014  ·  doi:10.1016/S0168-3659(14)00482-9
Highly cited research articles in Journal of Controlled Release: Commentaries and perspectives by authors
Highly cited research articles in Journal of Controlled Release: Commentaries and perspectives by authors
Nicholas A. Peppas, Ruth Duncan, Gary E. Wnek, Allan S. Hoffman, Guang Hui Gao, …, Horacio Cabral, Kazunori Kataoka, Praful R. Nair, Dennis Discher, Samir Mitragotri
Journal of Controlled Release  ·  01 Sep 2014  ·  doi:10.1016/j.jconrel.2014.07.035
From Stealthy Polymersomes and Filomicelles to Self Peptide-Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy
From Stealthy Polymersomes and Filomicelles to “Self” Peptide-Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy
Núria Sancho Oltra, Praful Nair, Dennis E. Discher
Annual Review of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering  ·  07 Jun 2014  ·  doi:10.1146/annurev-chembioeng-060713-040447

2012

Synthesis of biodiesel from low FFA waste frying oil using calcium oxide derived from Mereterix mereterix as a heterogeneous catalyst
Synthesis of biodiesel from low FFA waste frying oil using calcium oxide derived from Mereterix mereterix as a heterogeneous catalyst
Praful Nair, B. Singh, S.N. Upadhyay, Y.C. Sharma
Journal of Cleaner Production  ·  01 Jul 2012  ·  doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.01.039