Jeff MacKeigan, Professor in the College of Human Medicine’s Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, studies the mTOR pathway, which plays an important role in cancer and tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC). TSC is a rare tumor syndrome that is usually diagnosed during childhood, and causes tumors to form in the heart, brain, skin, kidneys, and lungs. Children with TSC may suffer from infantile spasms and epilepsy, along with cognitive disorders and developmental delays. Dr. MacKeigan’s lab has characterized the genomic landscape of TSC and is working with clinical collaborators to translate this knowledge into new discoveries for patients.
Education & Training
- PhD, Microbiology and Immunology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Postdoctal Fellowship, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
Selected Grants
- National Cancer Institute, R01, "Computational Model of Autophagy-Mediated Survival in Chemoresistant Lung Cancer"
Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications
- Martin K.R., W. Zhou, M. Bowman, J. Shih, K. Sing Au , K. Dittenhafer-Reed, K. Sisson, J. Koeman, D. Weisenberger, S. Cottingham , S. DeRoos , O. Devinsky, M. E. Winn, A. Cherniack, H. Shen, H. Northrup , D. Krueger, P. MacKeigan. The Genomic Landscape of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex. Nature Commun. 2017; 8:15816.
- MacKeigan J.P., and Krueger, D.C. Differentiating the mTOR inhibitors everolimus and sirolimus in tuberous sclerosis complex. Neuro Oncol. 2015; 17(12):1550-1559.
- Lanning, N.J., B.D. Looyenga, A.L. Kauffman, N.M. Niemi, J. Sudderth, R.J. DeBerardinis, and P. MacKeigan. A mitochondrial RNAi screen defines cellular bioenergetic determinants and identifies an adenylate kinase as a key regulator of ATP levels. Cell Rep. 2014; 7(3):907–917.
- Goodall, M.L., T. Wang, K.R. Martin, M.G. Kortus, A.L. Kauffman, J.M. Trent, S. Gately, and P. MacKeigan. Development of potent autophagy inhibitors that sensitize oncogenic BRAF V600E mutant melanoma tumor cells to vemurafenib. Autophagy 2014; 10(6):1120–1136.
- Martin, K.R., D. Barua., A.L. Kauffman, L.M. Westrate, R.G. Posner, W.S. Hlavacek, and P. MacKeigan. Computational model for autophagic vesicle dynamics in single cells. Autophagy 2013; 9(1):74–92.
- Niemi, N.M., Y. Xu, J.A. Klomp, S.W. Tait, K.J. Dykema, L.O. Murphy, L.A. Gaither, H.E. Xu, K.A. Furge, D.R. Green, and P. MacKeigan. MK-STYX, a catalytically inactive phosphatase regulating mitochondrial dependent apoptosis. Mol. Cell. Biol. 2011; 31(7):1357–1368.
- Martin, K.R.,Y. Xu, B.D. Looyenga, R. Davis, C.L. Wu, M.L. Tremblay, H.E. Xu, and P. MacKeigan. Identification of PTPsigma as an autophagic phosphatase. J. Cell Science 2011; 124(Pt 5):812–819.
- Düvel, K., J.L. Yecies, S. Menon, P. Raman, A.I. Lipovsky, A.L. Souza, E. Triantafellow, Q. Ma, R. Gorski, S. Cleaver, M.G. Vander Heiden, P. MacKeigan, P.M. Finan, C.B. Clish, L.O. Murphy, B.D. Manning. Activation of a Metabolic Gene Regulatory Network Downstream of mTOR Complex 1. Mol. Cell 2010; 39(2):171–183.
- Nicklin, P., P. Bergman, B. Zhang, E. Triantafellow, H. Wang, B. Nyfeler, H. Yang, M. Hild, C. Kung, C. Wilson, V.E. Myer, P. MacKeigan, J.A. Porter, Y.K. Wang, L.C. Cantley, P.M. Finan, and L.O. Murphy. Bidirectional transport of amino acids regulates mTOR and autophagy. Cell 2009; 136(3):521–534.
- MacKeigan, J.P., L.O. Murphy, and J. Blenis. Sensitized RNAi screen of human kinases and phosphatases identifies new regulators of apoptosis and chemoresistance. Cell Biol. 2005; 7(6):591–600.
