Sarah A. Mazzilli

Boston University | BU · Section of Computational Biomedicine

Background/Purpose: Previous studies have analyzed the tumor and local immune microenvironments in lung cancers and suggest immune modulation is associated with worse clinical outcome. However, the tumor-immune microenvironment in early-stage lung tumors and lymph nodes (LNs) have not been fully described. We aim to compare cell states in the immun...

SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease severity are influenced by viral entry (VE) gene expression patterns in the airway epithelium. The similarities and differences of VE gene expression (ACE2, TMPRSS2, and CTSL) across nasal and bronchial compartments have not been fully characterized using matched samples from large cohorts. Gene expression data from...

The molecular events involved in the development of bronchial premalignant lesions (PMLs), and their progression to lung squamous cell carcinoma, are not well understood. Prior work characterized lung PML molecular subtypes by identifying co-expressed gene modules associated with histologic severity and progression/persistence. The proliferative su...

Background: Bronchial pre-malignant lesions (PMLs) are the putative precursors for bronchial squamous cell carcinoma. PMLs represent a spectrum of histologies, from low-grade lesions (hyperplasia, metaplasia) to high-grade lesions (dysplasia, carcinoma in situ). The majority of these lesions will regress or remain stable without clinical interventi...

Objective The immune response to invasive carcinoma has been the focus of published work, but little is known about the adaptive immune response to bronchial premalignant lesions (PMLs), precursors of lung squamous cell carcinoma. This study was designed to characterize the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire in PMLs and its association with clinical,...

The imminent release of atlases combining highly multiplexed tissue imaging with single cell sequencing and other omics data from human tissues and tumors creates an urgent need for data and metadata standards compliant with emerging and traditional approaches to histology. We describe the development of a Minimum Information about highly multiplex...

Introduction: The Lung Precancer Atlas (PCA) is developing bulk and single cell RNA-seq pipelines to process Lung PCA sequencing data collected across our multi-institutional consortium. The pipelines will be publicly available to run using the Terra Cloud platform so that they can be used by other members of the NCI Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN...

Introduction: The Hippo pathway effector YAP contributes to carcinogenesis by directing stem cell activity, cell proliferation and cell survival signals. In the lung, aberrant nuclear YAP activity promotes bronchial epithelial growth, which in animal models can drive pathology that resembles lung premalignant lesions (PMLs). However, the molecular...

Background: Sampling the bronchial airway during bronchoscopies in screening populations at high risk for lung cancer has increased detection of squamous bronchial pre-malignant lesions (PML). The majority of these lesions will regress or remain stable without any clinical intervention. However, a subset of lesions will progress to invasive maligna...

Significance This study demonstrates that damage to lung epithelial architecture induces aberrant cellular signals that promote the development of precancerous airway lesions. These signals are mediated by the uncontrolled activation of the transcriptional effectors YAP and TAZ, which drive the expression of the growth factor NRG1 and the consequen...

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which infects host cells with help from the Viral Entry (VE) proteins ACE2, TMPRSS2, and CTSL. Proposed risk factors for viral infection, as well as the rate of disease progression, include age, sex, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,...

Objective: The immune response to invasive carcinoma has been the focus of published work, but little is known about the adaptive immune response to bronchial premalignant lesions (PMLs), precursors of lung squamous cell carcinoma. This study was designed to characterize the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire in PMLs and its association with clinical...

Determining the clinical significance of CT scan-detected subsolid pulmonary nodules requires an understanding of the molecular and cellular features that may foreshadow disease progression. We studied the alterations at the transcriptome level in both immune and non-immune cells, utilizing single-cell RNA sequencing, to compare the microenvironmen...

There is an increasing appreciation for the heterogeneity of myeloid lineages in the lung, but relatively little is known about populations specifically associated with the conducting airways. We use single-cell RNA sequencing, flow cytometry, and immunofluorescence to characterize myeloid cells of the mouse trachea during homeostasis and epithelia...

Introduction: Bronchial premalignant lesions (PMLs), precursors to lung squamous cell carcinoma, represent a relevant system for studying early tumor development. Some PMLs will progress through increasing grades of dysplasia to become squamous cell carcinoma, while others will regress back to normal airway without intervention. Previous work has i...

There is an increasing appreciation for the heterogeneity of myeloid lineages in the respiratory system, but whether distinct populations associate with the conducting airways remains unknown. We use single cell RNA sequencing, flow cytometry and immunofluorescence to characterize myeloid cells of the mouse trachea during homeostasis and epithelial...

Crucial transitions in cancer—including tumor initiation, local expansion, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance—involve complex interactions between cells within the dynamic tumor ecosystem. Transformative single-cell genomics technologies and spatial multiplex in situ methods now provide an opportunity to interrogate this complexity at unprecede...

Crucial transitions in cancer—including tumor initiation, local expansion, metastasis, and therapeutic resistance—involve complex interactions between cells within the dynamic tumor ecosystem. Transformative single-cell genomics technologies and spatial multiplex in situ methods now provide an opportunity to interrogate this complexity at unprecede...

The human bronchial epithelium is composed of multiple distinct cell types that cooperate to defend against environmental insults. While studies have shown that smoking alters bronchial epithelial function and morphology, its precise effects on specific cell types and overall tissue composition are unclear. We used single-cell RNA sequencing to pro...

There is a critical need to identify strategies for lung cancer prevention, as it remains the leading cause of cancer-related death in the US. A critical barrier to developing new approaches to prevent lung cancer is the lack of understanding of key molecular and cellular changes that lead to cancer initiation and progression. Our group has initiat...

Bronchial premalignant lesions (PMLs) are precursors of lung squamous cell carcinoma, but have variable outcome, and we lack tools to identify and treat PMLs at risk for progression to cancer. Here we report the identification of four molecular subtypes of PMLs with distinct differences in epithelial and immune processes based on RNA-Seq profiling...

Background: The immune response to frank malignancy has been the focus of published work, but little is known about the adaptive immune response to bronchial premalignant lesions (PMLs), precursors of lung squamous cell carcinoma. This study was designed to characterize the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire in PMLs and its association with clinical,...

https://meetinglibrary.asco.org/record/170356/abstract

The human bronchial epithelium is composed of multiple, distinct cell types that cooperate to perform functions, such as mucociliary clearance, that defend against environmental insults. While studies have shown that smoking alters bronchial epithelial function and morphology, the precise effects of this exposure on specific cell types are not well...

Bronchial premalignant lesions (PMLs) are precursors of lung squamous cell carcinoma, but have variable outcome, and we lack tools to identify and treat PMLs at highest risk for progression to invasive cancer. Profiling endobronchial biopsies of PMLs obtained from high-risk smokers by RNA-Seq identified four PML subtypes with differences in epithel...

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung is a leading cause of cancer mortality in the U.S. due to late-stage diagnosis and lack of effective treatments. Lung SCC arises in the epithelial layer of the bronchial airways and is often preceded by the development of premalignant lesions (PMLs). The molecular alterations involved in the progression of...

Background: Lung squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) arises in the epithelial layer of the bronchial airway and is often preceded by the development of premalignant lesions. However, not all premalignant lesions progress to lung SqCC and many will regress spontaneously. Understanding the somatic alterations and molecular subtypes associated with progres...

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality due in part to an inability to diagnose and intercept the disease at its earliest and potentially most curable stage. In order to improve lung cancer prevention and early detection, a detailed understanding of both the genomic alterations driving carcinogenesis and the mechanisms by which altered...

Background: Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lung is a leading cause of cancer mortality in the US due to late stage diagnosis and lack of effective treatments. Lung SCC arises in the epithelial layer of the bronchial airways and is often preceded by the development of premalignant lesions (PMLs). The molecular events involved in the progressio...

Background: Lung squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) arises in the epithelial layer of the bronchial airway and is often preceded by the development of premalignant lesions. However, not all premalignant lesions progress to lung SqCC and many regress without therapeutic intervention. Understanding the somatic alterations that contribute to progression o...

The molecular events that drive the development of the premalignant lesions (PMLs) that precede lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) are poorly understood. A major limitation to understanding PMLs and developing interventions is the lack of preclinical models to test candidates derived from human studies. Previous work by our group and others suggest...

Purpose: Lung cancer (LC) is the leading cause of cancer death in the US. The molecular events preceding the onset of disease are poorly understood and no effective tools exist to identify smokers with premalignant lesions (PMLs) that will progress to invasive cancer. Prior work identified molecular alterations in the smoke-exposed airway field of...

Cancer development is a complex process driven by inherited and acquired molecular and cellular alterations. Prevention is the holy grail of cancer elimination, but making this a reality will take a fundamental rethinking and deep understanding of premalignant biology. In this Perspective, we propose a national concerted effort to create a Precance...

Developing tools and skills for science advocacy are critical for postdocs looking to foster change in their institutions, in academia, or in society at large. The “Advocating for Science” symposium and workshop was co-organized in Boston in September 2016 as a joint venture between the Future of Research, Academics for the Future of Science, and t...

Background: Lung squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) arises in the epithelial layer of the bronchial airways and is often preceded by the development of premalignant lesions. However, not all premalignant lesions will progress to lung SqCC and many of these lesions will regress without therapeutic intervention. Understanding the molecular events that co...

Lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) arises in the epithelial layer of the bronchial airways and is preceded by the development of premalignant lesions (PMLs). The molecular events involved in the progression of PMLs to lung SCC are not clearly understood as not all PMLs that develop go on to form carcinoma. In addition, the majority of lung cancer c...

Understanding the earliest molecular and cellular events associated with cancer initiation remains a key bottleneck to transforming our approach to cancer prevention and detection. While TCGA has provided unprecedented insights into the genomic events associated with advanced stage cancer, there have been few studies comprehensively profiling prema...

Lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) claims the lives of approximately 50,000 individuals in the United States annually due to late stage diagnosis and lack of effective treatment options. Lung SCC arises in the epithelial layer of the bronchial airways and is preceded by the development of premalignant lesions (PMLs). The molecular events involved i...

The chemopreventive actions of vitamin D were examined in the N-nitroso-tris-chloroethylurea (NTCU) mouse model, a progressive model of lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). SWR/J mice were fed a deficient diet (D) containing no vitamin D3, a sufficient diet (S) containing 2000 IU/kg vitamin D3, or the same diets in combination with the active metabo...

Squamous cell cancer (SCC) of the lung is a leading cause of cancer mortality in the US, due to late stage diagnosis and lack of effective treatments. Lung SCC arises in the epithelial layer of the bronchial airways and is often preceded by the development of premalignant lesions (PMLs). The molecular events involved in the progression of PMLs to l...

The landscape of scientific research and funding is in flux as a result of tight budgets, evolving models of both publishing and evaluation, and questions about training and workforce stability. As future leaders, junior scientists are uniquely poised to shape the culture and practice of science in response to these challenges. A group of postdocs...

The landscape of scientific research and funding is in flux as a result of tight budgets, evolving models of both publishing and evaluation, and questions about training and workforce stability. As future leaders, junior scientists are uniquely poised to shape the culture and practice of science in response to these challenges. A group of postdocs...

Progress has recently been made in identifying populations at risk for lung cancer using genetic, clinical and demographic information. The N-nitroso-tris-chloroethylurea (NTCU) mouse model, in which animals develop premalignant histopathology similar to that seen in humans, is used to examine the potential efficacy of chemoprevention agents to be...

Organizing this symposium was a tremendous learning process for all of us. Here, we record the process we used, and the guidelines we'd follow (or not!) if we were to do it all over again. We hope they're helpful to junior scientists looking to organize meetings of any kind, but especially those dealing with systemic issues affecting the research e...

Vitamin D, an essential mediator of calcium homeostasis, acts through the vitamin D receptor to promote cellular differentiation and inhibit proliferation. Epidemiologic studies indicate that low serum levels of 25(OH)D3 are associated with increased risk and poor prognosis of lung cancer. Pre-clinical studies in mice show that dietary vitamin D an...

Lung cancer accounts for the majority of cancer mortality in both men and women. It is critical to better understand the biology of lung cancer development as no preventive agents and few effective treatment options exist for lung cancer. Epidemiological studies indicate that low serum levels of 25(OH)D3 are associated with increased risk and poor...

Proceedings: AACR 101st Annual Meeting 2010‐‐ Apr 17‐21, 2010; Washington, DC Lung cancer accounts for the majority of cancer mortality, research in this disease predominatly focuses on adenocarcinoma, which accounts for 32% of all lung cancers. Lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) accounts for 30% of lung cancer cases, thus the need for further kno...

Epidemiological evidence suggests that there is an inverse relationship between vitamin D and cancer. To investigate this relationship, a number of preclinical studies have been conducted focusing on the chemopreventive nature of dietary intake of vitamin D3 and the administration of the active metabolite of vitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2 D3) and analogs of...