University of California-Los Angeles · BiochemistryNutrient Regulation and Cancer Unit
Heather Christofk · Los Angeles, California
Research Focus
Dr. Heather Christofk's research lab at UCLA focuses on understanding how nutrients, particularly the amino acid asparagine, regulate cancer growth. The lab studies how renal cell carcinoma, a common kidney cancer, depends on asparagine for its survival and proliferation. Their work explores ways to target this dependency to improve treatment strategies, including the use of existing FDA-approved drugs like L-asparaginase and metformin.
renal cell carcinomaasparaginecancer metabolismL-asparaginasemetformintumor microenvironmentnutrient sensingimmune responseFDA-approved drugs
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate the dependence of kidney cancer on asparagine for growth.
AIM 02Explore the mechanisms of asparagine sensing in cancer cells.
AIM 03Evaluate the combination of L-asparaginase and metformin for treating renal cell carcinoma.
AIM 04Examine the impact of asparagine depletion on immune cell activation in tumors.
AIM 05Assess the potential for broad application of asparagine depletion strategies in various subtypes of renal cell carcinoma.
Skills the Lab Values
cell culturemouse modelsxenograft modelsWestern blottingCRISPR/Cas technologymetabolic assaysdrug treatment protocolsimmune cell analysisprotein analysisgenomic techniques
Output against the department
Publications203top 40% of dept.161st of 402
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations15ktop 31% of dept.126th of 402
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.