Duke University · BiologyCai Epigenetics Lab
Ling Cai · Durham, North Carolina
Research Focus
Dr. Ling Cai's lab focuses on understanding how prostate cancer evades the immune system, particularly through epigenetic regulation. They investigate a specific epigenetic factor, TNRC18, that plays a crucial role in silencing immune-related genes, which contributes to the disease's immune resistance. By targeting this factor, the lab aims to develop new strategies to make prostate cancer more responsive to immunotherapies.
prostate cancerimmune evasionepigenetic regulationTNRC18immune checkpoint inhibitors
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate how TNRC18 modulates the immune microenvironment in prostate cancer.
AIM 02Elucidate the role of TNRC18 in silencing immune activation-related transcripts.
AIM 03Assess how TNRC18 loss of function activates immune responses in prostate cancer.
AIM 04Define the tumor-extrinsic effects of TNRC18 on immune cell recruitment.
AIM 05Explore new therapeutic strategies to enhance responses to immunotherapy in prostate cancer.
Skills the Lab Values
flow cytometrysingle-cell RNA sequencinggenome-wide profilingmouse modelscell culture
Output against the department
Publications440top 10% of dept.102nd of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations17ktop 24% of dept.243rd of 1,033
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.