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Warren D. Kruger, PhD

Research Program
Educational Background
- BA, Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1985
- PhD, Genetics, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 1991
Memberships
- American Society of Human Genetics, 1990
- American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1995
- American Association for Cancer Research, 1997
- Elected President of Fox Chase Cancer Center Faculty Senate, 2010
- Society for Inherited Metabolic Disorders, 2011
Research Program
Research Interests
Amino Acid Genetics and Human Disease
- Mouse models with altered sulfur amino acid homeostasis
- Proteostasis modulators and mutant CBS
- Targeting MTAP deletion in human cancer
- Alterations in blood amino acids in human cancer patients.
Lab Overview
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and other important biological molecules. The sulfur containing amino acid methionine is especially interesting as alterations in methionine metabolism and methionine-related pathways are found in many human diseases, including rare inborn errors of metabolism to common diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. Currently there are three major projects in the lab. Two concern particular methionine metabolic genes, cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) and methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP). A third project is related to understanding how alterations in amino acid metabolism contributes to renal cell carcinoma.
Selected Publications
Lee HO, Wang L, Kuo YM, Andrews AJ, Gupta S, Kruger WD. S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase over-expression does not alter S-adenosylmethionine or S-adenosylhomocysteine levels in CBS deficient mice. Molecular Genetics and Metabolism Reports, 15:15-21, 2018. ScienceDirect.com
Gupta S, Wang L, Kruger WD. Betaine supplementation is less effective than methionine restriction in correcting phenotypes of CBS deficient mice. J Inherit Metab Dis. 2015 Aug 1. [Epub ahead of print] (2015) PubMed
Lee HO, Mustafa A, Hudes GR, Kruger WD. Hydroxychloroquine Destabilizes Phospho-S6 in Human Renal Carcinoma Cells. PLoS One. 2015 10:e0131464. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0131464 (2015). PubMed
Tang B.Kadariya Y, Chen Y, Slifker M, Kruger WD Expression of MTAP inhibits tumor-related phenotypes in HT1080 cells via a mechanism unrelated to its enzymatic function.G3 5:35-44. doi: 10.1534/g3.114.014555. (2015). PubMed
Shlomi T, Fan J, Tang B, Kruger WD, Rabinowitz JD. Quantitation of cellular metabolic fluxes of methionine. Anal Chem. 86:1583-91. (2014) PubMed
Gupta S, Melnyk SB, Kruger WD. Cystathionine β-synthase-deficient mice thrive on a low methionine diet. FASEB J. 28:781-90 (2014). PubMed
Kadariya Y, Tang B, Al-Saleem T, Hayakawa K, Slifker M, Kruger WD Germline Mutations in Mtap Cooperate with Myc and Pten to Accelerate tumorigenesis in MicePloS One 8: e67635. (2013) PubMed
Gupta S, Wang L, Anderl J, Slifker M, Kirk C, Kruger WD Correction of an inborn error of metabolism using proteasome inhibitors. Hum. Mutat. 34: 1085-93 (2013) PubMed
Tang B, Testa JR, Kruger WD. Increasing the therapeutic index of 5-flourouracil and 6-thioguanine by targeting loss of MTAP in tumor cells. Cancer Biol Ther. 13:1082-1090 (2012). PubMed
Gupta S. and Kruger, WD., Cystathionine Beta-synthase deficiency causes fat loss in mice. PLOS ONE 6: e27598 (2011). PubMed
Mustafa A., Gupta S., Hudes G.R., Egleston B.L., Uzzo RG, Kruger WD. Serum amino acid levels as a biomarker for renal cell carcinoma. J. Urology 186:1206-12 (2011). PubMed (Selected by Faculty of 1000)