College of Medicine
Opavsky Lab
Led by Rene Opavsky · Physiology and Aging
What we study
The Opavsky Lab studies how DNA methylation affects gene activity and cancer. They use mouse models and genome-wide studies to explore how DNA methyltransferases like DNMT3A and DNMT3B influence normal and malignant hematopoiesis.
What working here is like
- Wet lab
- Mice
- Cells in a dish
- Coding helps
- Projects
- 3
- Papers
- 5
Current projects
Dnmt3b activities in mouse development
Investigating the role of DNMT3B in mouse development and its potential as a tumor suppressor.
C17ORF58 is Critical for the Maintenance of B-cell Lymphomas and Myeloid Leukemias
The lab uses short hairpin RNA to lower the level of the gene C17ORF58 in blood‑cancer cell lines and finds that the cells stop growing and die, while normal cells are unaffected. The student performed these knockdowns in B‑cell and myeloid cancer cells and recorded the effects.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 509
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Lentiviral Knockdown of C17ORF58 on PTCL-NOS Lymphomas and Other Hematological Malignancies
Scientists used shRNA to silence the gene C17ORF58 in lymphoma and leukemia cell lines. The gene’s suppression caused cancer cells to die, showing it could be a target for new cancer treatments.
From the Spring 2025 UF Undergraduate Research Symposium · abstract book, p. 78
Summaries are written by AI in plain language from public symposium abstracts and may be imperfect.
Recent papers, explained
- Overcoming ABCB1 mediated multidrug resistance in castration resistant prostate cancer
2024 · Cell Death and Disease
Studies how ABCB1 blocks cancer drugs in prostate cancer.
- Genome-Wide Methylation Profiling of Peripheral T–Cell Lymphomas Identifies TRIP13 as a Critical Driver of Tumor Proliferation and Survival
2024 · Epigenomes
Finds TRIP13 helps T-cell lymphomas grow and survive.
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- TRIP13 is Critical for the Survival of B-cell Lymphomas and Myeloid Leukemias In Vitro
2024 · UF Journal of Undergraduate Research
Tests whether TRIP13 helps blood cancers grow in lab.
- A noncanonical microRNA derived from the snaR-A noncoding RNA targets a metastasis inhibitor
2021 · RNA
Discovers a new microRNA from a noncoding RNA that blocks cancer spread.
- DNMT3A Harboring Leukemia-Associated Mutations Directs Sensitivity to DNA Damage at Replication Forks
2021 · Clinical Cancer Research
Shows DNMT3A mutations make leukemia cells sensitive to DNA damage.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
Rene Opavsky hasn't set up this page yet. Their UF Scholars profile lists their publications.