Michail Agathokleous, Ph.D.

Michalis Agathocleous earned his B.A. and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Cambridge, where he studied embryonic retinal development with Dr. Bill Harris. He was a Research Fellow at Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge, where he worked on the metabolism of embryonic retinal stem and progenitor cells. He was then an 1851 Research Fellow with Dr. Sean Morrison in Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI), where he worked on the metabolism of hematopoietic stem cells and leukemia cells.

He joined CRI as an Assistant Professor in 2017. Dr. Agathocleous is a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Scholar (2017), a recipient of the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation 'A' Award (2018), and an American Society of Hematology Scholar (2020).

The Agathocleous laboratory studies the relationship between metabolism and cell type. They focus on the metabolism of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and their progeny, including cells of the myeloid and T cell lineages. To assess cell type specific metabolism, they have developed techniques to measure metabolites in stem cells and other rare cells isolated from tissues. They aim to understand how metabolism affects hematopoiesis, leukemia development, and the host's response to infection.

Undergraduate

University of Cambridge (2003), Medical Sciences

Graduate School

University of Cambridge (2007), Neuroscience

• Metabolism of hematopoietic stem cells and leukemia cells
• The role of stem cells in infection

Featured Publications

Neutrophil metabolomics in severe COVID-19 reveal GAPDH as a suppressor of neutrophil extracellular trap formation.

Li Y, Hook JS, Ding Q, Xiao X, Chung SS, Mettlen M, Xu L, Moreland JG, Agathocleous M, Nat Commun 2023 May 14 1 2610

The requirement for pyruvate dehydrogenase in leukemogenesis depends on cell lineage.

Jun S, Mahesula S, Mathews TP, Martin-Sandoval MS, Zhao Z, Piskounova E, Agathocleous M, Cell Metab 2021 Aug

Ascorbate regulates haematopoietic stem cell function and leukaemogenesis.

Agathocleous M, Meacham CE, Burgess RJ, Piskounova E, Zhao Z, Crane GM, Cowin BL, Bruner E, Murphy MM, Chen W, Spangrude GJ, Hu Z, DeBerardinis RJ, Morrison SJ Nature 2017 Aug

Oxidative stress inhibits distant metastasis by human melanoma cells.

Piskounova E, Agathocleous M, Murphy MM, Hu Z, Huddlestun SE, Zhao Z, Leitch AM, Johnson TM, DeBerardinis RJ, Morrison SJ Nature 2015 Oct

A nutrient-sensitive restriction point is active during retinal progenitor cell differentiation.

Love NK, Keshavan N, Lewis R, Harris WA, Agathocleous M Development 2014 Feb 141 3 697-706

Metabolic differentiation in the embryonic retina.

Agathocleous M, Love NK, Randlett O, Harris JJ, Liu J, Murray AJ, Harris WA Nat. Cell Biol. 2012 Aug 14 8 859-64

Maternal vitamin C regulates reprogramming of DNA methylation and germline development.

DiTroia SP, Percharde M, Guerquin MJ, Wall E, Collignon E, Ebata KT, Mesh K, Mahesula S, Agathocleous M, Laird DJ, Livera G, Ramalho-Santos M, Nature 2019 09 573 7773 271-275

Metabolic regulation of stem cell function.

Burgess RJ, Agathocleous M, Morrison SJ J. Intern. Med. 2014 Apr

Metabolism in physiological cell proliferation and differentiation.

Agathocleous M, Harris WA Trends Cell Biol. 2013 Oct 23 10 484-92

A directional Wnt/beta-catenin-Sox2-proneural pathway regulates the transition from proliferation to differentiation in the Xenopus retina.

Agathocleous M, Iordanova I, Willardsen MI, Xue XY, Vetter ML, Harris WA, Moore KB Development 2009 Oct 136 19 3289-99

• ASH Faculty Scholar
  (2020-2022)
• Alex's Lemonade Stand A Award
  (2019-2023)
• CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research
  (2017-2022)
• Gonville and Caius College Cambridge Research Fellowship (2007)
  
• Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Research Fellow (2011)
  

• American Association for Cancer Research (2017)
• International Society for Stem Cell Research (2014)