Department of Cell and Regenerative Biology,
Carbone Cancer Center
Dr. Suzanne Ponik is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell and Regenerative Biology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin. She received her undergraduate degree in Biology from St. Norbert College in DePere, WI, and her Ph.D. in Cell Biology and Biophysics from Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. Dr. Ponik completed her post-doctoral training with Dr. Patricia Keely at UW-Madison. She served as a lead scientist and project manager for over over 10 years in the Keely Lab, gaining valuable experience in both lab and grants management.
The long-term goal of Dr. Ponik's research program is to understand the regulation of breast cancer progression through biomechanical cues from the extracellular matrix. Particularly, her lab is interested in defining how the organization and composition of the extracellular matrix is deposited in tumors and how it initiates immune infiltration, influences cancer and immune cell function, and impacts tumor cell dissemination and metastatic outgrowth. Improving the basic biological understanding of the ECM in tumor progression will lead to the ultimate goal of developing therapies that target the ECM to improve breast cancer outcome. To accomplish these goals her research integrates cell biology and advanced imaging techniques using 3D cell culture and murine tumor models to address the following unanswered questions related to pathophysiologic changes in the ECM of the breast tumor microenvironment. 1) What are the mechanisms regulating the assembly and organization of the ECM in the breast tumor microenvironment? 2) How do cells, including macrophages and fibroblasts, sense and respond to changes in the ECM? 3) How do changes in the ECM within the primary tumor microenvironment impact tumor cell seeding and outgrowth in the metastatic niche? 4) Can we therapeutically target the ECM as an effective anti-cancer therapy?
Investigating integrin regulation and signaling events in three-dimensional systems.
Methods in enzymology , 2007 | Pubmed ID: 17697878
Structural changes in mixed Col I/Col V collagen gels probed by SHG microscopy: implications for probing stromal alterations in human breast cancer.
Biomedical optics express Aug, 2011 | Pubmed ID: 21833367
RhoA is down-regulated at cell-cell contacts via p190RhoGAP-B in response to tensional homeostasis.
Molecular biology of the cell Jun, 2013 | Pubmed ID: 23552690
Collagen density regulates xenobiotic and hypoxic response of mammary epithelial cells.
Environmental toxicology and pharmacology Jan, 2015 | Pubmed ID: 25481308
Neutrophils drive accelerated tumor progression in the collagen-dense mammary tumor microenvironment.
Breast cancer research : BCR 05, 2016 | Pubmed ID: 27169366
Collagen Matrix Density Drives the Metabolic Shift in Breast Cancer Cells.
EBioMedicine 11, 2016 | Pubmed ID: 27743905
Mechano-Signal Transduction in Mesenchymal Stem Cells Induces Prosaposin Secretion to Drive the Proliferation of Breast Cancer Cells.
Cancer research 11, 2017 | Pubmed ID: 28972074
The Presence of Cyclooxygenase 2, Tumor-Associated Macrophages, and Collagen Alignment as Prognostic Markers for Invasive Breast Carcinoma Patients.
The American journal of pathology 03, 2018 | Pubmed ID: 29429545
Targeted matrisome analysis identifies thrombospondin-2 and tenascin-C in aligned collagen stroma from invasive breast carcinoma.
Scientific reports 08, 2018 | Pubmed ID: 30154546
Scaffold stiffness influences breast cancer cell invasion via EGFR-linked Mena upregulation and matrix remodeling.
Matrix biology : journal of the International Society for Matrix Biology 01, 2020 | Pubmed ID: 31323325
Dynamic interactions between the extracellular matrix and estrogen activity in progression of ER+ breast cancer.
Oncogene 10, 2019 | Pubmed ID: 31406251
Meflin-Positive Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts Inhibit Pancreatic Carcinogenesis.
Cancer research 10, 2019 | Pubmed ID: 31439548
Matrix density drives 3D organotypic lymphatic vessel activation in a microfluidic model of the breast tumor microenvironment.
Lab on a chip 05, 2020 | Pubmed ID: 32297896
A live cell reporter of exosome secretion and uptake reveals pathfinding behavior of migrating cells.
Nature communications 04, 2020 | Pubmed ID: 32350252
Breast Fibroblasts and ECM Components Modulate Breast Cancer Cell Migration Through the Secretion of MMPs in a 3D Microfluidic Co-Culture Model.
Cancers 05, 2020 | Pubmed ID: 32384738
Biomechanical Contributions to Macrophage Activation in the Tumor Microenvironment.
Frontiers in oncology , 2020 | Pubmed ID: 32509583
Stiff stroma increases breast cancer risk by inducing the oncogene ZNF217.
The Journal of clinical investigation 11, 2020 | Pubmed ID: 32721948
Photocleavable Surfactant-Enabled Extracellular Matrix Proteomics.
Analytical chemistry 12, 2020 | Pubmed ID: 33232116
Elucidating cancer-vascular paracrine signaling using a human organotypic breast cancer cell extravasation model.
Biomaterials 03, 2021 | Pubmed ID: 33592387
Hyperpolarized C Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging of Pyruvate Metabolism in Murine Breast Cancer Models of Different Metastatic Potential.
Metabolites Apr, 2021 | Pubmed ID: 33925445
Directional cues in the tumor microenvironment due to cell contraction against aligned collagen fibers.
Acta biomaterialia 07, 2021 | Pubmed ID: 33965625
Effect of matrix heterogeneity on cell mechanosensing.
Soft matter Nov, 2021 | Pubmed ID: 34125129
The Mammary Tumor Microenvironment.
Advances in experimental medicine and biology , 2020 | Pubmed ID: 34185292
Reduced synchroneity of intra-islet Ca oscillations in vivo in -deficient β cells.
eLife 07, 2021 | Pubmed ID: 34231467
Primary head and neck tumour-derived fibroblasts promote lymphangiogenesis in a lymphatic organotypic co-culture model.
EBioMedicine Nov, 2021 | Pubmed ID: 34673450
Pharmacologic conversion of cancer-associated fibroblasts from a protumor phenotype to an antitumor phenotype improves the sensitivity of pancreatic cancer to chemotherapeutics.
Oncogene 05, 2022 | Pubmed ID: 35414659
Correction: Pharmacologic conversion of cancer-associated fibroblasts from a protumor phenotype to an antitumor phenotype improves the sensitivity of pancreatic cancer to chemotherapeutics.
Oncogene May, 2022 | Pubmed ID: 35508544
Brian Burkel1,2,
Brett A. Morris1,
Suzanne M. Ponik1,
Kristin M. Riching1,
Kevin W. Eliceiri2,3,4,
Patricia J. Keely1,2,5
1Department of Cell and Regenerative Biology, University of Wisconsin-Madison,
2Laboratory for Optical and Computational Instrumentation, University of Wisconsin-Madison,
3Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison,
4Morgridge Institute for Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison,
5Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive Cancer center, University of Wisconsin-Madison