Priyanga Jayakrishnan, PhD
The Role of Midkine in Pancreatic Cancer Initiation and Progression to Liver Metastasis
Chemotherapy-induced liver injury can create an environment that accelerates pancreatic cancer's spread to the liver. Single-cell RNA sequencing showed increased Midkine (MDK) signaling to pancreatic cancer cells after chemotherapy in mice with accelerated liver metastasis, and MDK is also made by cancer-associated fibroblasts and the cancer cells themselves, including cancer-specific MDK isoforms. The project will define how MDK drives progression, therapy response and liver metastasis, and whether targeting MDK signaling can limit progression and recurrence.
Dr. Priyanga Jayakrishnan completed her PhD in India, studying centrosomal abnormalities and genomic instability in breast cancer. She joined the Lytle Lab at the Medical College of Wisconsin as a postdoctoral fellow in 2024, where she studies how therapy-induced tissue injury and tumor-microenvironment interactions influence cancer progression and metastasis, using mouse models, CRISPR-based approaches, organoids, and single-cell and bulk transcriptomics. In pancreatic cancer, she studies how tumor- and microenvironment-derived signaling promotes progression and liver metastasis.
Seed grants start at $50,000 — awarded by scientists, reported on annually.
Donate →Priyanga Jayakrishnan, PhD
The Role of Midkine in Pancreatic Cancer Initiation and Progression to Liver Metastasis
Chemotherapy-induced liver injury can create an environment that accelerates pancreatic cancer's spread to the liver. Single-cell RNA sequencing showed increased Midkine (MDK) signaling to pancreatic cancer cells after chemotherapy in mice with accelerated liver metastasis, and MDK is also made by cancer-associated fibroblasts and the cancer cells themselves, including cancer-specific MDK isoforms. The project will define how MDK drives progression, therapy response and liver metastasis, and whether targeting MDK signaling can limit progression and recurrence.
Dr. Priyanga Jayakrishnan completed her PhD in India, studying centrosomal abnormalities and genomic instability in breast cancer. She joined the Lytle Lab at the Medical College of Wisconsin as a postdoctoral fellow in 2024, where she studies how therapy-induced tissue injury and tumor-microenvironment interactions influence cancer progression and metastasis, using mouse models, CRISPR-based approaches, organoids, and single-cell and bulk transcriptomics. In pancreatic cancer, she studies how tumor- and microenvironment-derived signaling promotes progression and liver metastasis.
Seed grants start at $50,000 — awarded by scientists, reported on annually.
Donate →