Our laboratory works on defining the early cellular and molecular events that drive tumour initiation and development. In particular, we focus on how the cell of origin affects the differentiation trajectory of nascent tumour cells and dictates changes in the microenvironment thus enabling tumour growth and immune evasion. By identifying these cellular and molecular changes, we could develop effective early detection and intervention strategies.
Selected Publications
Reed A, Pensa S, Steif A, Stenning J, Kunz D, Porter LJ, Hua K, He P, Twigger AJ, Sui AJQ, Kania K, Barrow-McGee R, Goulding I, Gomm J, Speirs V, Jones L, Marioni JC, Khaled WT. A single-cell atlas enables mapping of homeostatic cellular shifts in the adult human breast. Nature Genetics (2024)
Twigger AJ, Engelbrecht LK, Bach K, Schultz-Pernice I, Pensa S, Stenning J, Petricca S, Scheel CH, Khaled WT. Transcriptional changes in the mammary gland during lactation revealed by single cell sequencing of cells from human milk. Nature Communications (2022)
Twigger A-J and Khaled WT. Mammary gland development from a single cell ‘omics view. Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology (2021)
Bach K*., Pensa S.*, Zarocsinceva M., Katarzyna K., Stockis J., Pinaud S., Lazarus K., Shehata M., Simões B., Greenhalgh A., Howell S., Clarke R., Caldas C., Halim T., Marioni J. #, Khaled WT. #.Time-resolved single-cell analysis of Brca1 associated mammary tumorigenesis reveals aberrant differentiation of luminal progenitors. Nature Communications (2021)
Watson C.J. and Khaled W.T. Mammary development in the embryo and adult: new insights into the journey of morphogenesis and commitment. Development (2020)
Hadi F., Kulaberoglu Y., Lazarus K., Bach K., Ugur R., Beattie P., St. John Smith E. and Khaled WT. Transformation of naked mole-rat cells. Nature (2020)
Waterhouse M. P., Ugur R. and Khaled WT. Therapeutic and Mechanistic Perspectives of Protein Complexes in Breast Cancer. Front. Cell Dev. Biol., 20 December (2019)
Lazarus KA, Hadi F, Zambon E, Bach K, Santolla MF, Watson JK, Correia LL, Das M, Ugur R, Pensa S, Becker L, Campos LS, Ladds G, Liu P, Evan GI, McCaughan FM, Le Quesne J, Lee JH, Calado D, Khaled WT. BCL11A interacts with SOX2 to control the expression of epigenetic regulators in lung squamous carcinoma. Nature Communications (2018)
Bach, K., Pensa, S., Grzelak, M., Hadfield, J., Adams, D.J., Marioni, J.C., Khaled, WT. Differentiation dynamics of mammary epithelial cells revealed by single-cell RNA-sequencing. Nature Communications (2017)
Khaled, WT.#, Lee SC et al. BCL11A is a triple-negative breast cancer gene with critical functions in stem and progenitor cells. Nature Communications (2015)
Kulaberoglu Y., Bhushan B., Hadi F., Khaled WT., Rankin K., St. John Smith E., Frankel D. Naked mole rat hyaluronan - an extreme folding biopolymer. Scientific Reports, (2019)
Khaled WT.# and Pentao Liu. Cancer Mouse Models: Past, Present and Future. Seminars in Cell and Developmental Biology. (2014)
Yu Y, Wang J, Khaled W, Burke S, Li P, Chen X, Yang W, Jenkins NA, Copeland NG, Zhang S, Liu P. Bcl11a is essential for lymphoid development and negatively regulates p53. Journal of Experimental Medicine (2012)
Oliver CH, Khaled WT, Frend H, Nichols J, Watson CJ. The Stat6 regulated KRAB domain zinc finger protein Zfp157 regulates the balance of lineages in mammary gland and compensates for loss of Gata-3. Genes Dev. (2012)
Watson CJ, Oliver CH, Khaled W.T. Cytokine signalling in mammary gland development. J Reprod Immunol. (2011)
Li W, Ferguson BJ, Khaled WT, Tevendale M, Stingl J, Poli V, Rich T, Salomoni P, Watson CJ. PML depletion disrupts normal mammary gland development and skews the composition of the mammary luminal cell progenitor pool. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. (2009)
Watson CJ, Khaled WT. Mammary development in the embryo and adult: a journey of morphogenesis and commitment. Development. (2008)
Khaled WT, Read EK, Nicholson SE, Baxter FO, Brennan AJ, Came PJ, Sprigg N, McKenzie AN, Watson CJ. The IL-4/IL-13/Stat6 signalling pathway promotes luminal mammary epithelial cell development. Development. (2007)
(*Co-first author #Corresponding Author)
