Kunxin Luo

Kunxin Luo is a Professor of Cell Biology, Development and Physiology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a Faculty Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Division of Life Sciences. His research focuses on signal transduction pathways, particularly the TGFβ/Smad and Hippo pathways, in development and cancer. He investigates how disruptions in these pathways contribute to developmental defects and cancer progression, with emphasis on breast cancer stem cells, mammary gland biology, and adipose tissue development.

Research interests include SnoN/Ski proteins' roles in regulating TGFβ signaling, aging, and tumor suppression. His work combines in vitro cell culture, 3D models, and in vivo mouse models to study mechanisms linking signaling pathways to cancer and developmental processes. Key projects explore SnoN's role in mammary progenitor cell regulation, Hippo/YAP/TAZ signaling in breast cancer, and P-TEFb complexes' role in transcription elongation during metastasis.

Publications highlight discoveries in Ski/SnoN's dual functions as tumor suppressors and oncogenes, mechanisms of p53 activation via SnoN, and SnoN's role in embryonic angiogenesis. Collaborations with institutions like Bissell labs integrate multidisciplinary approaches. No awards or student advisement records are explicitly detailed in the provided text.