Lee Zou

About

Lee Zou is the George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke University. He serves as the Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology and is a member of the Duke Cancer Institute. His research focuses on pharmacology and cancer biology, contributing to the understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying cancer development and treatment. As a leading figure in his field, he is involved in advancing scientific knowledge through his role in academia and research at Duke University.

Research topics

• Genetics
• Cell biology
• Biology
• Virology
• Molecular biology
• Computational biology

Selected publications

• BRCAness, DNA gaps, and gain and loss of PARP inhibitor–induced synthetic lethality

  Journal of Clinical Investigation · 2024-07-14 · 60 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior author

  Mutations in the tumor-suppressor genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 resulting in BRCA1/2 deficiency are frequently identified in breast, ovarian, prostate, pancreatic, and other cancers. Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors (PARPis) selectively kill BRCA1/2-deficient cancer cells by inducing synthetic lethality, providing an effective biomarker-guided strategy for targeted cancer therapy. However, a substantial fraction of cancer patients carrying BRCA1/2 mutations do not respond to PARPis, and mos…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Unprocessed genomic uracil as a source of DNA replication stress in cancer cells

  Molecular Cell · 2024-04-29 · 36 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Meiotic protein SYCP2 confers resistance to DNA-damaging agents through R-loop-mediated DNA repair

  Nature Communications · 2024-02-21 · 17 citations

  articleOpen access

  Drugs targeting the DNA damage response (DDR) are widely used in cancer therapy, but resistance to these drugs remains a major clinical challenge. Here, we show that SYCP2, a meiotic protein in the synaptonemal complex, is aberrantly and commonly expressed in breast and ovarian cancers and associated with broad resistance to DDR drugs. Mechanistically, SYCP2 enhances the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) through transcription-coupled homologous recombination (TC-HR). SYCP2 promotes R-loo…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A Translational Study of the ATR Inhibitor Berzosertib as Monotherapy in Four Molecularly Defined Cohorts of Advanced Solid Tumors

  Clinical Cancer Research · 2024-10-25 · 9 citations

  article

  PURPOSE: Preclinical studies have identified molecular correlates of sensitivity to ATR inhibition. This translational study was designed to test the ATR inhibitor berzosertib in patients with advanced solid tumors carrying alterations in ATRX, ataxia-telangiectasia-mutated (ATM), genes conferring replication stress (RS), or SDH. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Patients were recruited to four cohorts: T1: ATRX-mutant leiomyosarcoma; T2: ATM-mutant solid tumors; T3: solid tumors with mutations in RS-associ…

  PublisherDOI

• A RAD18–UBC13–PALB2–RNF168 axis mediates replication fork recovery in BRCA1-deficient cancer cells

  Nucleic Acids Research · 2024-06-29 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  BRCA1/2 proteins function in genome stability by promoting repair of double-stranded DNA breaks through homologous recombination and by protecting stalled replication forks from nucleolytic degradation. In BRCA1/2-deficient cancer cells, extensively degraded replication forks can be rescued through distinct fork recovery mechanisms that also promote cell survival. Here, we identified a novel pathway mediated by the E3 ubiquitin ligase RAD18, the E2-conjugating enzyme UBC13, the recombination fac…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Regulation of the ATR Checkpoint Kinase by DNA Damage

  NIH · $4.3M · 2006–2019

• Implications of the ATR Checkpoint Kinase in Radiation and Targeted Therapies

  NIH · $2.4M · 2015–2021

• Impacts of APOBECs on DNA replication, ATR checkpoint, and cancer therapy

  NIH · $1.5M · 2018–2023

Frequent coauthors

• Michael S. Lawrence

  98 shared

• Cyril H. Benes

  93 shared

• Rémi Buisson

  University of California, Irvine

  88 shared

• Antoine Simoneau

  Tango Therapeutics (United States)

  77 shared

• Li Lan

  Beijing Ditan Hospital

  75 shared

• Jian Ouyang

  MUSC Hollings Cancer Center

  71 shared

• Daniel A. Haber

  Harvard University

  66 shared

• Henning Willers

  Massachusetts General Hospital

  65 shared

Similar researchers at Duke University

• Christopher Bang Newgardh-175
• Donald Patrick McDonnellh-119
• Cynthia Moreton Kuhnh-110