Don Nguyen

Don Nguyen has made landmark contributions to understanding brain metastasis, revealing how cancer cells breach the blood-brain barrier and establish metastatic colonies through specific interactions with astrocytes and brain endothelial cells that co-opt normal brain homeostatic mechanisms. His work identified L1CAM as critical for cancer cell adhesion to brain capillaries and transmigration across the blood-brain barrier during initial brain colonization. He demonstrated that reactive astrocytes paradoxically support brain metastasis survival through gap junction-mediated transfer of cGAMP that activates STING signaling and paracrine survival factors. His research has identified brain-specific therapeutic targets for preventing and treating brain metastases.