Gayathri R. Devi

Adjunct Professor in the Department of Surgery

Dr. Devi’s research interests include functional genomics, anti-cancer drug discovery and development, mechanisms of cancer cell signaling, tumor immunity and applications thereof for overcoming therapeutic resistance in cancer.

The lab has established prostate, inflammatory breast cancer and ovarian cellular and tumor models.

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Adjunct Professor in the Department of Surgery

Contact Information

  • Office Location: 477 Med.Sci.Res.Bldg. (MSRB1), 2606 DUMC, Durham, NC 27710
  • Email Address: gayathri.devi@duke.edu

Education

  • Ph.D. University of Nebraska, College of Medicine, 1998

Courses Taught

  • PATHOL 293: Research Independent Study
  • BME 494: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)
  • BME 493: Projects in Biomedical Engineering (GE)

In the News

Representative Publications

  • Rangwala, Fatima, Kevin P. Williams, Ginger R. Smith, Zainab Thomas, Jennifer L. Allensworth, H Kim Lyerly, Anna Mae Diehl, Michael A. Morse, and Gayathri R. Devi. “Differential effects of arsenic trioxide on chemosensitization in human hepatic tumor and stellate cell lines.” BMC Cancer 12 (September 10, 2012): 402. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2407-12-402.
  • Allensworth, Jennifer L., Katherine M. Aird, Amy J. Aldrich, Ines Batinic-Haberle, and Gayathri R. Devi. “XIAP inhibition and generation of reactive oxygen species enhances TRAIL sensitivity in inflammatory breast cancer cells.” Mol Cancer Ther 11, no. 7 (July 2012): 1518–27. https://doi.org/10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-11-0787.
  • Piacentino, Valentino, Carmelo A. Milano, Michael Bolanos, Jacob Schroder, Emily Messina, Adam S. Cockrell, Edward Jones, et al. “X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein-mediated attenuation of apoptosis, using a novel cardiac-enhanced adeno-associated viral vector.” Hum Gene Ther 23, no. 6 (June 2012): 635–46. https://doi.org/10.1089/hum.2011.186.
  • Aird, Katherine M., Jennifer L. Allensworth, Ines Batinic-Haberle, H Kim Lyerly, Mark W. Dewhirst, and Gayathri R. Devi. “ErbB1/2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor mediates oxidative stress-induced apoptosis in inflammatory breast cancer cells.” Breast Cancer Res Treat 132, no. 1 (February 2012): 109–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-011-1568-1.
  • Morse, M. A., A. Hobeika, D. Serra, K. Aird, M. McKinney, A. Aldrich, T. Clay, et al. “Depleting regulatory T cells with arginine-rich, cell-penetrating, peptide-conjugated morpholino oligomer targeting FOXP3 inhibits regulatory T-cell function.” Cancer Gene Ther 19, no. 1 (January 2012): 30–37. https://doi.org/10.1038/cgt.2011.63.
  • Thomas, Z. I., W. Gibson, J. Z. Sexton, K. M. Aird, S. M. Ingram, A. Aldrich, H. K. Lyerly, G. R. Devi, and K. P. Williams. “Targeting GLI1 expression in human inflammatory breast cancer cells enhances apoptosis and attenuates migration.” Br J Cancer 104, no. 10 (May 10, 2011): 1575–86. https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.2011.133.
  • Clay, Timothy M., Takuya Osada, Zachary C. Hartman, Amy Hobeika, Gayathri Devi, Michael A. Morse, and H Kim Lyerly. “Polyclonal immune responses to antigens associated with cancer signaling pathways and new strategies to enhance cancer vaccines.” Immunol Res 49, no. 1–3 (April 2011): 235–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12026-010-8186-6.
  • Morse, Michael A., Junping Wei, Zachary Hartman, Wenle Xia, Xiu-Rong Ren, Gangjun Lei, William T. Barry, et al. “Synergism from combined immunologic and pharmacologic inhibition of HER2 in vivo.” Int J Cancer 126, no. 12 (June 15, 2010): 2893–2903. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.24995.
  • Aird, Katherine M., Rami B. Ghanayem, Sharon Peplinski, Herbert K. Lyerly, and Gayathri R. Devi. “X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein inhibits apoptosis in inflammatory breast cancer cells with acquired resistance to an ErbB1/2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor.” Mol Cancer Ther 9, no. 5 (May 2010): 1432–42. https://doi.org/10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-10-0160.
  • Hartman, Zachary C., Junping Wei, Takuya Osada, Oliver Glass, Gangjun Lei, Xiao-Yi Yang, Sharon Peplinski, et al. “An adenoviral vaccine encoding full-length inactivated human Her2 exhibits potent immunogenicty and enhanced therapeutic efficacy without oncogenicity.” Clin Cancer Res 16, no. 5 (March 1, 2010): 1466–77. https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-09-2549.
  • Iversen, Patrick L., Katherine M. Aird, Rebecca Wu, Michael M. Morse, and Gayathri R. Devi. “Cellular uptake of neutral phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomers.” Curr Pharm Biotechnol 10, no. 6 (September 2009): 579–88. https://doi.org/10.2174/138920109789069279.
  • Ding, X., A. B. Mohd, Z. Huang, T. Baba, M. Q. Bernardini, H. K. Lyerly, A. Berchuck, S. K. Murphy, A. B. Buermeyer, and G. R. Devi. “MLH1 expression sensitises ovarian cancer cells to cell death mediated by XIAP inhibition.” Br J Cancer 101, no. 2 (July 21, 2009): 269–77. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bjc.6605180.
  • Mavropoulos, John C., W Cooper Buschemeyer, Alok K. Tewari, Dmitriy Rokhfeld, Michael Pollak, Yunhua Zhao, Phillip G. Febbo, et al. “The effects of varying dietary carbohydrate and fat content on survival in a murine LNCaP prostate cancer xenograft model.” Cancer Prev Res (Phila) 2, no. 6 (June 2009): 557–65. https://doi.org/10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-08-0188.
  • Devi, Gayathri R. “Delivery of phosphorodiamidate morpholino antisense oligomers in cancer cells.” Methods Mol Biol 542 (2009): 351–61. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-561-9_19.
  • Sekhon, Harmanjatinder S., Carla A. London, Mypinder Sekhon, Patrick L. Iversen, and Gayathri R. Devi. “c-MYC antisense phosphosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer inhibits lung metastasis in a murine tumor model.” Lung Cancer (Amsterdam, Netherlands) 60, no. 3 (June 2008): 347–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lungcan.2007.10.028.
  • Aird, Katherine M., Xiuyun Ding, Aris Baras, Junping Wei, Michael A. Morse, Timothy Clay, Herbert K. Lyerly, and Gayathri R. Devi. “Trastuzumab signaling in ErbB2-overexpressing inflammatory breast cancer correlates with X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein expression.” Mol Cancer Ther 7, no. 1 (January 2008): 38–47. https://doi.org/10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-07-0370.
  • Morse, Michael A., Amy Hobeika, Takuya Osada, Donna Niedzwiecki, Paul Kelly Marcom, Kimberly L. Blackwell, Carey Anders, Gayathri R. Devi, H Kim Lyerly, and Timothy M. Clay. “Long term disease-free survival and T cell and antibody responses in women with high-risk Her2+ breast cancer following vaccination against Her2.” J Transl Med 5 (September 6, 2007): 42. https://doi.org/10.1186/1479-5876-5-42.
  • Devi, G. R. “siRNA-based approaches in cancer therapy.” Cancer Gene Therapy 13, no. 9 (September 2006): 819–29. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.cgt.7700931.
  • Devi, Gayathri R., Tomasz M. Beer, Christopher L. Corless, Vikram Arora, Doreen L. Weller, and Patrick L. Iversen. “In vivo bioavailability and pharmacokinetics of a c-MYC antisense phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer, AVI-4126, in solid tumors.” Clinical Cancer Research : An Official Journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 11, no. 10 (May 2005): 3930–38. https://doi.org/10.1158/1078-0432.ccr-04-2091.
  • Arora, Vikram, Gayathri R. Devi, and Patrick L. Iversen. “Neutrally charged phosphorodiamidate morpholino antisense oligomers: uptake, efficacy and pharmacokinetics.” Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology 5, no. 5 (October 2004): 431–39. https://doi.org/10.2174/1389201043376706.
  • Ko, Yoo-Joung, Gayathri R. Devi, Carla A. London, Anthony Kayas, Muralimohan T. Reddy, Patrick L. Iversen, Glenn J. Bubley, and Steven P. Balk. “Androgen receptor down-regulation in prostate cancer with phosphorodiamidate morpholino antisense oligomers.” The Journal of Urology 172, no. 3 (September 2004): 1140–44. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.ju.0000134698.87862.e6.
  • Amantana, Adams, Carla A. London, Patrick L. Iversen, and Gayathri R. Devi. “X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein inhibition induces apoptosis and enhances chemotherapy sensitivity in human prostate cancer cells.” Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 3, no. 6 (June 2004): 699–707. https://doi.org/10.1158/1535-7163.699.3.6.
  • Devi, Gayathri R. “XIAP as target for therapeutic apoptosis in prostate cancer.” Drug News & Perspectives 17, no. 2 (March 2004): 127–34. https://doi.org/10.1358/dnp.2004.17.2.829046.
  • London, Carla A., Harmanjatinder S. Sekhon, Vikram Arora, David A. Stein, Patrick L. Iversen, and Gayathri R. Devi. “A novel antisense inhibitor of MMP-9 attenuates angiogenesis, human prostate cancer cell invasion and tumorigenicity.” Cancer Gene Therapy 10, no. 11 (November 2003): 823–32. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.cgt.7700642.
  • Iversen, Patrick L., Vikram Arora, A. J. Acker, David H. Mason, and Gayathri R. Devi. “Efficacy of antisense morpholino oligomer targeted to c-myc in prostate cancer xenograft murine model and a Phase I safety study in humans.” Clinical Cancer Research : An Official Journal of the American Association for Cancer Research 9, no. 7 (July 2003): 2510–19.
  • Knapp, Derek C., John E. Mata, Muralimohan T. Reddy, Gayathri R. Devi, and Patrick L. Iversen. “Resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs overcome by c-Myc inhibition in a Lewis lung carcinoma murine model.” Anti-Cancer Drugs 14, no. 1 (January 2003): 39–47. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001813-200301000-00006.
  • Devi, Gayathri R., Jennifer R. Oldenkamp, Carla A. London, and Patrick L. Iversen. “Inhibition of human chorionic gonadotropin beta-subunit modulates the mitogenic effect of c-myc in human prostate cancer cells.” The Prostate 53, no. 3 (November 2002): 200–210. https://doi.org/10.1002/pros.10151.
  • Devi, Gayathri R., Cynthia C. Sprenger, Stephen R. Plymate, and Ron G. Rosenfeld. “Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 induces early apoptosis in malignant prostate cancer cells and inhibits tumor formation in vivo.” The Prostate 51, no. 2 (May 2002): 141–52. https://doi.org/10.1002/pros.10068.
  • Devi, Gayathri R. “Prostate cancer: status of current treatments and emerging antisense-based therapies.” Curr Opin Mol Ther 4, no. 2 (April 2002): 138–48.
  • Devi, G. R., D. L. Graham, Y. Oh, and R. G. Rosenfeld. “Effect of IGFBP-3 on IGF- and IGF-analogue-induced insulin-like growth factor-I receptor (IGFIR) signalling.” Growth Hormone & IGF Research : Official Journal of the Growth Hormone Research Society and the International IGF Research Society 11, no. 4 (August 2001): 231–39. https://doi.org/10.1054/ghir.2001.0231.
  • López-Bermejo, A., C. K. Buckway, G. R. Devi, V. Hwa, S. R. Plymate, Y. Oh, and R. G. Rosenfeld. “Characterization of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-related proteins (IGFBP-rPs) 1, 2, and 3 in human prostate epithelial cells: potential roles for IGFBP-rP1 and 2 in senescence of the prostatic epithelium.” Endocrinology 141, no. 11 (November 2000): 4072–80. https://doi.org/10.1210/endo.141.11.7783.
  • Devi, G. R., D. H. Yang, R. G. Rosenfeld, and Y. Oh. “Differential effects of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-binding protein-3 and its proteolytic fragments on ligand binding, cell surface association, and IGF-I receptor signaling.” Endocrinology 141, no. 11 (November 2000): 4171–79. https://doi.org/10.1210/endo.141.11.7781.
  • Rosenfeld, R. G., V. Hwa, L. Wilson, A. Lopez-Bermejo, C. Buckway, C. Burren, W. K. Choi, et al. “The insulin-like growth factor binding protein superfamily: new perspectives.” Pediatrics 104, no. 4 Pt 2 (October 1999): 1018–21. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.104.s5.1018.
  • Devi, G. R., A. T. De Souza, J. C. Byrd, R. L. Jirtle, and R. G. MacDonald. “Altered ligand binding by insulin-like growth factor II/mannose 6-phosphate receptors bearing missense mutations in human cancers.” Cancer Research 59, no. 17 (September 1999): 4314–19.
  • Byrd, J. C., G. R. Devi, A. T. de Souza, R. L. Jirtle, and R. G. MacDonald. “Disruption of ligand binding to the insulin-like growth factor II/mannose 6-phosphate receptor by cancer-associated missense mutations.” The Journal of Biological Chemistry 274, no. 34 (August 1999): 24408–16. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.274.34.24408.
  • Devi, G. R., J. C. Byrd, D. H. Slentz, and R. G. MacDonald. “An insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) affinity-enhancing domain localized within extracytoplasmic repeat 13 of the IGF-II/mannose 6-phosphate receptor.” Molecular Endocrinology (Baltimore, Md.) 12, no. 11 (November 1998): 1661–72. https://doi.org/10.1210/mend.12.11.0192.
  • Garmroudi, F., G. Devi, D. H. Slentz, B. S. Schaffer, and R. G. MacDonald. “Truncated forms of the insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II)/mannose 6-phosphate receptor encompassing the IGF-II binding site: characterization of a point mutation that abolishes IGF-II binding.” Molecular Endocrinology (Baltimore, Md.) 10, no. 6 (June 1996): 642–51. https://doi.org/10.1210/mend.10.6.8776724.