Gregory S. Ducker

Gregory S. Ducker, PhD

Languages spoken: English

Academic Information

Departments Primary - Biochemistry

Academic Office Information

greg.ducker@biochem.utah.edu

Lab

Gregory Ducker is an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry. His lab studies mammalian metabolism and its role in diabetes, heart disease and cancer. The lab utilizes mass spectrometry based approaches to quantify molecular reactions in living model systems to understanding the reaction network that support disease processes.

Research Statement

Changes in cellular metabolism underlie many diseases. For example, cancer cells must become proliferative, requiring both increases in the production of key biosynthetic building blocks and new nutrient acquisition strategies to supply them. Research in my group focuses on understanding at a molecular level the fundamental metabolic processes underlying cellular disease physiology- what pathways and processes contribute to disease and how do cells acquire the nutrients to fuel them? One long-term goal of our research is to characterize the metabolic requirements of cancer cells and tumors in vivo in order to identify and validate new therapeutic targets. Our approach is fundamentally biochemical, based on integrating new mass spectrometry technology with CRISPR/Cas9 genetic engineering to be able to precisely quantify metabolic fluxes in vivo. By starting with a fundamentals based perspective on metabolism, we are able to apply our knowledge across different cell types and disease states providing unifying theory to diverse biological presentations.

Education History

Undergraduate Carleton College
 BA
Doctoral Training University of California, Berkeley
 PhD
Postdoctoral Fellowship Princeton University
 Postdoctoral Fellow

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. VanSant-Webb C, Castro JC, Su AY, Hawkins K, Saxena A, Wright J, Smith R, Fragoso-García M, Chen YA, Barton C, Stubben C, O'Connell RM, Ducker GS, Evason K (2026). MicroRNA-21 promotes dysregulated lipid metabolism and hepatocellular carcinoma. Disease models & mechanisms, 19(2),
  2. Johnson E, Visker JR, Brintz BJ, Kyriakopoulos CP, Jeong J, Zhang Y, Shankar TS, Hillas Y, Taleb I, Badolia R, Amrute JM, Stubben CJ, Cedeno-Rosario L, Kyriakoulis I, Sideris K, Ling J, Hamouche R, Tseliou E, Navankasattusas S, Ducker GS, Rutter J, Holland WL, Summers SA, Hong T, Koenig SC, Hanff TC, Lavine KJ, Greene T, Bailey S, Alharethi R, Selzman CH, Shah P, Guo H, Slaughter MS, Kanwar MK, Drakos S (2026). Integrative Clinical-Molecular Modeling Identifies LRRN4CL as a Determinant of Structural and Functional Myocardial Improvement. bioRxiv,
  3. Ducker GS, Rutter (2025). Leveraging genetic and phenotypic variation to discover metabolite-protein interactions. Cell metabolism, 37(11), 2105-2106.
  4. Vieira RF, Sanchez SR, Arumugam M, Mower PD, Curtin MC, Jackson AE, Gallop MR, Wright J, Bowles A, Ducker GS, Hilgendorf KI, Chaix (2025). Hyperlipidemia drives tumor growth in a mouse model of obesity-accelerated breast cancer growth. Cancer & metabolism, 13(1), 39.
  5. Acuña-Pilarte K, Reichert EC, Green YS, Halberg LM, Golkowski M, Maguire KM, Mimche PN, Kamdem SD, Hu PA, Wright J, Ducker GS, Voth WP, O'Connell RM, McFarland SA, Egal ESA, Chaix A, Summers SA, Reelitz JW, Maschek JA, Cox JE, Evason KJ, Koh M (2025). HAF prevents hepatocyte apoptosis and progression to MASH and HCC through transcriptional regulation of the NF-¿B pathway. Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.), 82(2), 438-453.
  6. Nah J, Mahendran S, Kerouanton B, Cui L, Hock DH, Cabrera-Orefice A, Dunlap K, Robinson D, Tung DWH, Leong SH, Tan KY, Chothani SP, Sun J, Dziegowska A, Leszczynska G, Rackham OJL, Wittig I, Dedon P, Ducker GS, Stroud DA, Ho (2025). Microprotein SMIM26 drives oxidative metabolism via serine-responsive mitochondrial translation. Molecular cell, 85(14), 2759-2775.e12.
  7. Velasco-Silva JN, Wilkerson JL, Ramos D, Low HK, Bowman F, Evason KJ, Boudina S, Holland WL, Ducker G (2025). Loss of hepatic autophagy induces ¿-cell proliferation through impaired glutamine-dependent gluconeogenesis. Physiological reports, 13(10), e70381.
  8. Dunlap KN, Bender A, Bowles A, Bott AJ, Tay J, Grossmann AH, Rutter J, Ducker G (2025). SLC7A5 is required for cancer cell growth under arginine-limited conditions. Cell reports, 44(1), 115130.
  9. Visker JR, Tseliou E, Kyriakopoulos CP, Hamouche R, Yin M, Ling J, Shankar TS, Kwan E, Cedeno-Rosaria L, Velasco-Silva JN, Sideris K, Kwak H, Hillas Y, Yannias E, Maneta E, Srinivasan H, Padilla L, Polishchuck G, Navankasattusas S, Tandar A, Ducker GS, Rutter J, Hong T, Shaw RM, Lui C, Welt FG, Drakos S (2025). Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma ( PPARG )-mediated myocardial salvage in acute myocardial infarction managed with left ventricular unloading and coronary reperfusion. bioRxiv,
  10. Cluntun AA, Visker JR, Velasco-Silva JN, Lang MJ, Cedeño-Rosario L, Shankar TS, Hamouche R, Ling J, Kim JE, Toshniwal AG, Low HK, Cunningham CN, Carrington J, Catrow JL, Pearce Q, Jeong MY, Bott AJ, Narbona-Pérez ÁJ, Stanley CE, Li Q, Eberhardt DR, Morgan JT, Yadav T, Wells CE, Ramadurai DKA, Swiatek WI, Chaudhuri D, Rothstein JD, Muoio DM, Paulo JA, Gygi SP, Baker SA, Navankasattusas S, Cox JE, Funai K, Drakos SG, Rutter J, Ducker G (2024). Direct mitochondrial import of lactate supports resilient carbohydrate oxidation. bioRxiv,
  11. VanSant-Webb C, Low HK, Kuramoto J, Stanley CE, Qiang H, Su AY, Ross AN, Cooper CG, Cox JE, Summers SA, Evason KJ, Ducker G (2024). Phospholipid isotope tracing suggests ß-catenin-driven suppression of phosphatidylcholine metabolism in hepatocellular carcinoma. Biochimica et biophysica acta. Molecular and cell biology of lipids, 1869(6), 159514.
  12. Visker JR, Cluntun AA, Velasco-Silva JN, Eberhardt DR, Cedeño-Rosario L, Shankar TS, Hamouche R, Ling J, Kwak H, Hillas JY, Aist I, Tseliou E, Navankasattusas S, Chaudhuri D, Ducker GS, Drakos SG, Rutter (2024). Enhancing mitochondrial pyruvate metabolism ameliorates ischemic reperfusion injury in the heart. JCI insight, 9(17),
  13. Lee HM, Muhammad N, Lieu EL, Cai F, Mu J, Ha YS, Cao G, Suchors C, Joves K, Chronis C, Li K, Ducker GS, Olszewski K, Cai L, Allison DB, Bachert SE, Ewing WR, Wong H, Seo H, Kim IY, Faubert B, Kim J, Kim (2024). Concurrent loss of LKB1 and KEAP1 enhances SHMT-mediated antioxidant defence in KRAS-mutant lung cancer. Nature metabolism, 6(7), 1310-1328.
  14. McBride MJ, Hunter CJ, Zhang Z, TeSlaa T, Xu X, Ducker GS, Rabinowitz J (2024). Glycine homeostasis requires reverse SHMT flux. Cell metabolism, 36(1), 103-115.e4.
  15. Cluntun AA, Badolia R, Lettlova S, Parnell KM, Shankar TS, Diakos NA, Olson KA, Taleb I, Tatum SM, Berg JA, Cunningham CN, Van Ry T, Bott AJ, Krokidi AT, Fogarty S, Skedros S, Swiatek WI, Yu X, Luo B, Merx S, Navankasattusas S, Cox JE, Ducker GS, Holland WL, McKellar SH, Rutter J, Drakos S (2021). The pyruvate-lactate axis modulates cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure. Cell metabolism, 33(3), 629-648.e10.
  16. García-Cañaveras JC, Lancho O, Ducker GS, Ghergurovich JM, Xu X, da Silva-Diz V, Minuzzo S, Indraccolo S, Kim H, Herranz D, Rabinowitz J (2021). SHMT inhibition is effective and synergizes with methotrexate in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Leukemia, 35(2), 377-388.
  17. Li AM, Ducker GS, Li Y, Seoane JA, Xiao Y, Melemenidis S, Zhou Y, Liu L, Vanharanta S, Graves EE, Rankin EB, Curtis C, Massague J, Rabinowitz JD, Thompson CB, Ye J (2020). Metabolic Profiling Reveals a Dependency of Human Metastatic Breast Cancer on Mitochondrial Serine and One-Carbon Unit Metabolism. Mol Cancer Res, 18, 599-611.
  18. Panic V, Pearson S, Banks J, Tippetts TS, Velasco-Silva JN, Lee S, Simcox J, Geoghegan G, Bensard CL, van Ry T, Holland WL, Summers SA, Cox J, Ducker GS, Rutter J, Villanueva C (2020). Mitochondrial pyruvate carrier is required for optimal brown fat thermogenesis. eLife, 9,
  19. Dekhne A, Shah K, Ducker GS, Katinas JM, Wong J, Nayeen MJ, Doshi A, Ning C, Bao X, Frühauf J, Wallace-Povirk A, O'Connor C, Dzinic S, White K, Kushner J, Kim S, Polin L, Rabinowitz JD, Li J, Hou Z, Dann III CE, Gangjee A, Matherly LM. (2019). Novel pyrrolopyrimidine compounds inhibit mitochondrial and cytosolic one-carbon metabolism with broad-spectrum anti-tumor efficacy. Mol Cancer Ther.
  20. Rodriguez AE, Ducker GS, Billingham LK, Martinez C, Suri V, Friedman A, Manfredi M, Weinberg SE, Rabinowitz JD, Chandel NC. (2019). Serine metabolism supports macrophage IL-1β production. Cell Metab, 29(4), 1003-1011.
  21. Bensard CL, Wisidagama DR, Olson KA, Berg JA, Krah NM, Schell JC, Nowinski SM, Fogarty S, Bott AJ, Wei P, Dove KK, Tanner JM, Panic V, Cluntun A, Lettlova S, Earl CS, Namnath DF, Vázquez-Arreguín K, Villanueva CJ, Tantin D, Murtaugh LC, Evason KJ, Ducker GS, Thummel CS, Rutter J (2019). Regulation of Tumor Initiation by the Mitochondrial Pyruvate Carrier. Cell Metab, 31(2), 284-300.e7.
  22. Dekhne AS, Shah K, Ducker GS, Katinas JM, Wong-Roushar J, Nayeen MJ, Doshi A, Ning C, Bao X, Frühauf J, Liu J, Wallace-Povirk A, O'Connor C, Dzinic SH, White K, Kushner J, Kim S, Hüttemann M, Polin L, Rabinowitz JD, Li J, Hou Z, Dann CE 3rd, Gangjee A, Matherly L (2019). Novel Pyrrolo[3,2-d]pyrimidine Compounds Target Mitochondrial and Cytosolic One-carbon Metabolism with Broad-spectrum Antitumor Efficacy. Molecular cancer therapeutics, 18(10), 1787-1799.
  23. Rodriguez AE, Ducker GS, Billingham LK, Martinez CA, Mainolfi N, Suri V, Friedman A, Manfredi MG, Weinberg SE, Rabinowitz JD, Chandel N (2019). Serine Metabolism Supports Macrophage IL-1β Production. Cell metabolism, 29(4), 1003-1011.e4.
  24. Morscher RJ, Ducker GS, Li SH, Mayer JA, Gitai Z, Sperl W, Rabinowitz JD (2018). Mitochondrial translation requires folate-dependent tRNA methylation. Nature, 554(7690), 128-132.
  25. Rodan L, Qi W, Ducker GS, Demirbas D, Laine R, Yang E, Walker MA, Eichler F, Rabinowitz JD, Anselm I, Berry GT (2018). 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolate synthetase deficiency causes a neurometabolic disorder associated with microcephaly, epilepsy, and cerebral hypomyelination. Mol Genet Metab.
  26. Chamberlain CE, German MS, Yang K, Wang J, VanBrocklin H, Regan M, Shokat KM, Ducker GS, Kim GE, Hann B, Donner DB, Warren RS, Venook AP, Bergsland EK, Lee D, Wang Y, Nakakura EK (2018). A patient-derived xenograft model of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors identifies sapanisertib as a possible new treatment for everolimus-resistant tumors. Mol Cancer Ther, 17(12), 2702-2709.
  27. Ksionda O, Mues M, Wandler AM, Donker L, Tenhagen M, Jun J, Ducker GS, Matlawska-Wasowska K, Shannon K, Shokat KM, Roose JP (2018). Comprehensive analysis of T cell leukemia signals reveals heterogeneity in the PI3 kinase-Akt pathway and limitations of PI3 kinase inhibitors as monotherapy. PLoS One, 13(5), e0193849.
  28. Chamberlain CE, German MS, Yang K, Wang J, VanBrocklin H, Regan M, Shokat KM, Ducker GS, Kim GE, Hann B, Donner DB, Warren RS, Venook AP, Bergsland EK, Lee D, Wang Y, Nakakura E (2018). A Patient-derived Xenograft Model of Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors Identifies Sapanisertib as a Possible New Treatment for Everolimus-resistant Tumors. Molecular cancer therapeutics, 17(12), 2702-2709.
  29. Rodan LH, Qi W, Ducker GS, Demirbas D, Laine R, Yang E, Walker MA, Eichler F, Rabinowitz JD, Anselm I, Berry GT, Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) (2018). 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolate synthetase deficiency causes a neurometabolic disorder associated with microcephaly, epilepsy, and cerebral hypomyelination. Molecular genetics and metabolism, 125(1-2), 118-126.
  30. Ducker GS, Ghergurovich JM, Mainolfi N, Suri V, Jeong SK, Hsin-Jung Li S, Friedman A, Manfredi MG, Gitai Z, Kim H, Rabinowitz JD (2017). Human SHMT inhibitors reveal defective glycine import as a targetable metabolic vulnerability of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 114(43), 11404-11409.
  31. Chen L, Ducker GS, Lu W, Teng X, Rabinowitz JD (2017). An LC-MS chemical derivatization method for the measurement of five different one-carbon states of cellular tetrahydrofolate. Anal Bioanal Chem, 409(25), 5955-5964.
  32. Ducker GS, Chen L, Morscher RJ, Ghergurovich JM, Esposito M, Teng X, Kang Y, Rabinowitz JD (2016). Reversal of Cytosolic One-Carbon Flux Compensates for Loss of the Mitochondrial Folate Pathway. Cell Metab, 23(6), 1140-1153.
  33. Davies JM, Robinson AE, Cowdrey C, Mummaneni PV, Ducker GS, Shokat KM, Bollen A, Hann B, Phillips JJ (2014). Generation of a patient-derived chordoma xenograft and characterization of the phosphoproteome in a recurrent chordoma. J Neurosurg, 120(2), 331-6.
  34. Ducker GS, Atreya CE, Simko JP, Hom YK, Matli MR, Benes CH, Hann B, Nakakura EK, Bergsland EK, Donner DB, Settleman J, Shokat KM, Warren RS (2014). Incomplete inhibition of phosphorylation of 4E-BP1 as a mechanism of primary resistance to ATP-competitive mTOR inhibitors. Oncogene, 33(12), 1590-600.
  35. Pourdehnad M, Truitt ML, Siddiqi IN, Ducker GS, Shokat KM, Ruggero D (2013). Myc and mTOR converge on a common node in protein synthesis control that confers synthetic lethality in Myc-driven cancers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 110(29), 11988-93.
  36. Atreya CE, Ducker GS, Feldman ME, Bergsland EK, Warren RS, Shokat KM (2012). Combination of ATP-competitive mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors with standard chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. Invest New Drugs, 30(6), 2219-25.
  37. Wang BT, Ducker GS, Barczak AJ, Barbeau R, Erle DJ, Shokat KM (2011). The mammalian target of rapamycin regulates cholesterol biosynthetic gene expression and exhibits a rapamycin-resistant transcriptional profile. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 108(37), 15201-6.
  38. McCormick SR, McCormick MJ, Grutkoski PS, Ducker GS, Banerji N, Higgins RR, Mendiola JR, Reinartz JJ (2010). FLT3 mutations at diagnosis and relapse in acute myeloid leukemia: cytogenetic and pathologic correlations, including cuplike blast morphology. Arch Pathol Lab Med, 134(8), 1143-51.
  39. Okuzumi T, Ducker GS, Zhang C, Aizenstein B, Hoffman R, Shokat KM (2010). Synthesis and evaluation of indazole based analog sensitive Akt inhibitors. Mol Biosyst, 6(8), 1389-402.

Review

  1. Ducker GS, Rabinowitz JD (2017). One-Carbon Metabolism in Health and Disease. [Review]. Cell Metab, 25, (1), 27-42.

Commentary

  1. Ducker GS, Rabinowitz JD (2015). ZMP: a master regulator of one-carbon metabolism. Mol Cell, 57(2), 203-4.

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