An over-arching goal of my work has been to understand the signaling cues and regulatory events that direct the growth and survival of cells. These efforts have led me to study what is turning out to be an exciting mechanism of intercellular communication that is garnering a good deal attention from the cell and cancer biology communities. It involves the ability of cells to form and release (shed) multiple distinct classes of non-traditional secretory vesicles, collectively referred to as extracellular vesicles (EVs). EVs generated by cancer cells contain a variety of cytosolic and nuclear proteins, metabolic enzymes, RNA transcripts, and even micro-RNAs that can be transferred between two cancer cells, or between a cancer cell and a normal cell, thereby altering the behavior of recipient cells in ways that support cancer progression.

• PhD, Genetics, Kimmel Cancer Institute, Thomas Jefferson University, 1999
• BS, Biology, State University of New York at Albany, 1992

• 2017-, Assistant Research Professor, Department of Molecular Medicine, Cornell University
• 2011-2017, Senior Research Associate, Department of Molecular Medicine, Cornell University
• 2003-2011, Research Associate, Department of Molecular Medicine, Cornell University
• 2000-2003, Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Molecular Medicine, Cornell University
• 1992-1993, Research Technician, Wadsworth Center for Laboratories and Research
• 1990-1992, Internship (Genetic Testing), New York State Department of Health

1. Feng, Q., Zhang, C., Lum, D., Druso, J.E., Blank, B., Wilson, K.F., Welm, A., B.T., Antonyak, M.A., and Cerione, R.A. (2017) A class of extracellular vesicles from breast cancer cells activates VEGF receptors and tumor angiogenesis. Nat Commun. doi: 10.1038/ncomms14450.

2. Song, Y.H., Warncke, C., Choi, S.J., Choi, S., Chiou, A.E., Ling, L., Liu, H.Y., Daniel, S., Antonyak, M.A., Cerione, R.A., and Fischbach, C. (2016) Breast cancer-derived extracellular vesicles stimulate myofibroblast differentiation and pro-angiogenic behavior of adipose stem cells. Matrix Biol. doi: 10.1016/j.matbio.2016.11.008. Epub ahead of print.

3. Kreger, B.T., Johansen, E.R., Cerione, R.A., and Antonyak, M.A. (2016) The enrichment of survivin in exosomes from breast cancer cells treated with paclitaxel promotes cell survival and chemoresistance. Cancers 8, 111; doi: 10.3390/cancers8120111.

4. Bussche, L., Rauner, G., Antonyak, M., Syracuse, B., McDowell, M., Brown, A.M., Cerione, R.A., and Van de Walle, G.R. (2016) Microvesicle-mediated Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling Promotes Interspecies Mammary Stem/Progenitor Cell Growth. J Biol Chem 291, 24390-24405.

5. Zhang, X., Khan, S., Jiang, H., Antonyak, M.A., Chen, X., Spiegelman, N.A., Shrimp, J.H., Cerione, R.A., and Lin, H. (2016) Identifying the functional contribution of the defatty-acylase activity of SIRT6. Nat Chem Biol. 12, 614-620.

• 2005, Seed Grant for Collaborative Research Projects between the Cornell Campuses 
• 2000-2003, National Research Service Award (NRSA)