Research Interests：

Primordial germ cells, Spermatogonial stem cells, Reconstitution of germ cell fate

Publications:

(1) Cheng, K.; Seita, Y.; Whelan, E. C.; Yokomizo, R.; Hwang, Y. S.; Rotolo, A.; Krantz, I. D.; Ginsberg, J. P.; Kolon, T. F.; Lal, P.; Luo, X.; Pierorazio, P. M.; Linn, R. L.; Ryeom, S.; Sasaki, K. Defining the Cellular Origin of Seminoma by Transcriptional and Epigenetic Mapping to the Normal Human Germline. Cell Reports 2024, 43 (6), 114323. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114323.

(2) Seita, Y. #; Cheng, K. #; McCarrey, J. R.; Yadu, N.; Cheeseman, I. H.; Bagwell, A.; Ross, C. N.; Santana Toro, I.; Yen, L.; Vargas, S.; Navara, C. S.; Hermann, B. P.; Sasaki, K. Efficient Generation of Marmoset Primordial Germ Cell-like Cells Using Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells. eLife 2023, 12, e82263. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.82263.

(3) Cheng, K.; McCarrey, J. R. Profiling the Epigenetic Landscape of the Spermatogonial Stem Cell: Part 2—Computational Analysis of Epigenomics Data. In Spermatogonial Stem Cells; M. Oatley, J., Hermann, B. P., Eds.; Methods in Molecular Biology; Springer US: New York, NY, 2023; Vol. 2656, pp 109–125. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3139-3_6.

(4) Cheng, K.; McCarrey, J. R. Profiling the Epigenetic Landscape of the Spermatogonial Stem Cell—Part 1: Epigenomics Assays. In Spermatogonial Stem Cells; M. Oatley, J., Hermann, B. P., Eds.; Methods in Molecular Biology; Springer US: New York, NY, 2023; Vol. 2656, pp 71–108. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-3139-3_5.

(5) Sakata, Y.#; Cheng, K.#; Mayama, M.; Seita, Y.; Detlefsen, A. J.; Mesaros, C. A.; Penning, T. M.; Shishikura, K.; Yang, W.; Auchus, R. J.; Strauss, J. F.; Sasaki, K. Reconstitution of Human Adrenocortical Specification and Steroidogenesis Using Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells. Developmental Cell 2022, 57 (22), 2566-2583.e8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2022.10.010.

(6) Lin, H.#; Cheng, K.#; Kubota, H.; Lan, Y.; Riedel, S. S.; Kakiuchi, K.; Sasaki, K.; Bernt, K. M.; Bartolomei, M. S.; Luo, M.; Wang, P. J. Histone Methyltransferase DOT1L Is Essential for Self-Renewal of Germline Stem Cells. Genes Dev. 2022, genesdev.349550.122v1. https://doi.org/10.1101/gad.349550.122.

(7) Cheng, K.; Seita, Y.; Moriwaki, T.; Noshiro, K.; Sakata, Y.; Hwang, Y. S.; Torigoe, T.; Saitou, M.; Tsuchiya, H.; Iwatani, C.; Hosaka, M.; Ohkouchi, T.; Watari, H.; Umazume, T.; Sasaki, K. The Developmental Origin and the Specification of the Adrenal Cortex in Humans and Cynomolgus Monkeys. Science Advances 2022, 8 (16), eabn8485. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn8485.

(8) Sasaki, K.; Oguchi, A.; Cheng, K.; Murakawa, Y.; Okamoto, I.; Ohta, H.; Yabuta, Y.; Iwatani, C.; Tsuchiya, H.; Yamamoto, T. The Embryonic Ontogeny of the Gonadal Somatic Cells in Mice and Monkeys. Cell reports 2021, 35 (5), 109075.

(9) Cheng, K.; Chen, I.-C.; Cheng, C.-H. E.; Mutoji, K.; Hale, B. J.; Hermann, B. P.; Geyer, C. B.; Oatley, J. M.; McCarrey, J. R. Unique Epigenetic Programming Distinguishes Regenerative Spermatogonial Stem Cells in the Developing Mouse Testis. Iscience 2020, 23 (10), 101596.

(10) Hermann, B. P.#; Cheng, K.#; Singh, A.; Roa-De La Cruz, L.; Mutoji, K. N.; Chen, I.-C.; Gildersleeve, H.; Lehle, J. D.; Mayo, M.; Westernströer, B.; Law, N. C.; Oatley, M. J.; Velte, E. K.; Niedenberger, B. A.; Fritze, D.; Silber, S.; Geyer, C. B.; Oatley, J. M.; McCarrey, J. R. The Mammalian Spermatogenesis Single-Cell Transcriptome, from Spermatogonial Stem Cells to Spermatids. Cell Reports 2018, 25 (6), 1650-1667.e8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2018.10.026.

(11) Cheng, K.-R.; Fu, X.-W.; Zhang, R.-N.; Jia, G.-X.; Hou, Y.-P.; Zhu, S.-E. Effect of Oocyte Vitrification on Deoxyribonucleic Acid Methylation of H19, Peg3, and Snrpn Differentially Methylated Regions in Mouse Blastocysts. Fertility and sterility 2014, 102 (4), 1183–1190.