Weibo Luo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

Dr. Weibo Luo is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Pathology and Pharmacology at UT Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) since December 2014. Dr. Luo received his Ph.D summa cum laude from the University of Magdeburg, Germany in 2007, completed his postdoctoral fellowship and instructorship with 2019 Nobel Laureate Dr. Gregg L. Semenza at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine before joining UTSW.

Dr. Luo studies oxygen homeostasis in tumor growth and metastasis at the molecular and cellular levels, with a particular focus on hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs). He utilizes the multidisciplinary approaches to study crosstalk of HIF, epigenetics, and metabolism and their roles in tumor growth and metastasis. His overall goals are to identify the novel hypoxia-specific therapeutic targets and ultimately to translate knowledge to cancer therapy.

• Drug resistance
• Epigenetics
• Gene regulation
• Hypoxia/Hypoxia-inducible factor
• Immunotherapy
• Metabolism
• Tumor initiation, growth, and metastasis

Featured Publications

Targeting BCAT1 combined with a-ketoglutarate triggers metabolic synthetic lethality in glioblastoma.

Zhang B, Peng H, Zhou M, Bao L, Wang C, Cai F, Zhang H, Wang JE, Niu Y, Chen Y, Wang Y, Hatanpaa K, Copland JA, DeBerardinis RJ, Wang Y, Luo W, Cancer Res 2022 May

ZMYND8 expression in breast cancer cells blocks T-lymphocyte surveillance to promote tumor growth.

Wang Y, Luo M, Chen Y, Wang Y, Zhang B, Ren Z, Bao L, Wang Y, Wang JE, Fu YX, Luo W, Wang Y, Cancer Res 2020 Nov

CHD4 promotes breast cancer progression as a coactivator of hypoxia-inducible factors.

Wang Y, Chen Y, Bao L, Zhang B, Wang JE, Kumar A, Xing C, Wang Y, Luo W, Cancer Res. 2020 Jul

HIF-2-induced long non-coding RNA RAB11B-AS1 promotes hypoxia-mediated angiogenesis and breast cancer metastasis.

Niu Y, Bao L, Chen Y, Wang C, Luo M, Zhang B, Zhou M, Wang JE, Fang YV, Kumar A, Xing C, Wang Y, Luo W, Cancer Res. 2020 Jan

Methylation of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1a by G9a/GLP inhibits HIF-1 transcriptional activity and cell migration.

Bao L, Chen Y, Lai HT, Wu SY, Wang JE, Hatanpaa KJ, Raisanen JM, Fontenot M, Lega B, Chiang CM, Semenza GL, Wang Y, Luo W Nucleic Acids Res. 2018 May

ZMYND8 acetylation mediates HIF-dependent breast cancer progression and metastasis.

Chen Y, Zhang B, Bao L, Jin L, Yang M, Peng Y, Kumar A, Wang JE, Wang C, Zou X, Xing C, Wang Y, Luo W J. Clin. Invest. 2018 Apr

Pyruvate kinase M2 is a PHD3-stimulated coactivator for hypoxia-inducible factor 1.

Luo W, Hu H, Chang R, Zhong J, Knabel M, O'Meally R, Cole RN, Pandey A, Semenza GL Cell 2011 May 145 5 732-44

MIF is a 3' flap nuclease that facilitates DNA replication and promotes tumor growth.

Wang Y, Chen Y, Wang C, Yang M, Wang Y, Bao L, Wang JE, Kim B, Chan KY, Xu W, Capota E, Ortega J, Nijhawan D, Li GM, Luo W, Wang Y, Nat Commun 2021 05 12 1 2954

Multifaceted role of branched-chain amino acid metabolism in cancer.

Peng H, Wang Y, Luo W, Oncogene 2020 Oct 39 44 6747-6756

Regulation of branched-chain amino acid metabolism by hypoxia-inducible factor in glioblastoma.

Zhang B, Chen Y, Shi X, Zhou M, Bao L, Hatanpaa KJ, Patel T, DeBerardinis RJ, Wang Y, Luo W, Cell. Mol. Life Sci. 2020 Feb

• Mary Kay Foundation Research Award
  (2019)
• Susan G. Komen Career Catalyst Research Award
  (2016)
• Welch Foundation Research Award
  (2016)
• American Cancer Society (ACS-IRG) New Investigator Awards in Cancer Research
  (2015)
• CPRIT Scholar in Cancer Research
  Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (2014)
• AACR-Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology Scholar-in-Training Award
  American Association for Cancer Research (2013)
• NIH Pathway to Independence Award
  National Cancer Institute (2013)
• Albert L. Lehninger Postdoctoral Research Award
  The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (2012)
• FARMS Postdoctoral Fellowship
  Dr. Richard and Mavis Fowler Foundation for Advanced Research in the Medical Sciences, Inc (2011)
• PhD summa cum laude
  University of Magdeburg, Germany (2007)

• American Association for Cancer Research (2011)