The Grelet Laboratory research program is dedicated to understanding how the nervous system shapes cancer progression, with a particular emphasis on the interplay between nerve and cancer cell metabolism and metastasis.
Academic Section(s):
Oncology Science
Education:
Dr. Simon Grelet joins the Department of Oncology Science at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine as an Associate Professor. He earned his Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Reims, France, and completed his postdoctoral work at the Medical University of South Carolina, Hollings Cancer Center. He subsequently established the Cancer Innervation & Neurobiology Laboratory at the University of South Alabama, Mitchell Cancer Institute in 2021, where he held a position of Assistant Professor prior to joining OU. His research program has been supported by several foundations and is currently funded by the NCI through an NIH MERIT award. Dr. Grelet has received multiple honors in recognition of his scientific contributions, including the Best Scientific Contribution Award from the World Mitochondria Society, and his work was named among the top 10 scientific breakthroughs of 2025 by the journal Science. He currently serves as Co-Director of the Methods in Cancer Neuroscience workshop at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Clinical/Research Interests:
In earlier work, Dr. Grelet investigated the functional roles of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in cancer. This research uncovered novel mechanisms by which these transcripts regulate gene expression through the alternative splicing of protein-coding genes. He demonstrated that this regulation leads to the generation of functionally active lncRNAs that promote cancer cell plasticity and aggressiveness (Nature Cell Biology 2017). Through integrative transcriptomic analyses and functional assays, he helped identify a set of lncRNAs reactivated during breast cancer plasticity and demonstrated how they modulate the expression of axon guidance molecules. These findings revealed the mechanistic link between tumor cell plasticity and cancer innervation (Life Science Alliance 2021). Building on these molecular insights, current research in the Grelet Laboratory focuses on cancer innervation, specifically the infiltration of tumors by nerves and its impact on cancer cell behavior. Dr. Grelet is particularly interested in how neural inputs influence cancer cell metabolism, stress survival, and the acquisition of metastatic traits. To investigate these dynamics, the laboratory approaches biological questions through multimodal designs, ranging from basic molecular biology to sophisticated cell co-culture models and in vivo mouse lineage tracing. The team employs synthetic biology approaches to design new reporters, such as the MitoTRACER technology, as well as bioinformatic interpretation approaches for drug screening and the understanding of transcriptome and translatome regulation. By deploying these novel models, his group is uncovering key mechanisms that drive nerve-cancer crosstalk. Notably, this work established nerve-to-cancer mitochondria transfer as a key driver of metastatic spread (Nature 2025). This finding, originally published in the journal Nature, received extensive coverage in other prestigious journals such as Nature Neuroscience and Cancer Discovery, and was recognized as one of the top breakthroughs of 2025 by the journal Science.
At the University of Oklahoma, Dr. Grelet looks forward to expanding his research program at the interface of cancer biology, neuroscience, and metabolism, with the long-term goal of translating fundamental discoveries about nerve-cancer communication into new therapeutic strategies. The collaborative environment of the Stephenson Cancer Center and the Department of Oncology Science provides an ideal setting to pursue these questions, build new interdisciplinary partnerships, and mentor the next generation of cancer researchers.
Select Publications:
- Hoover G, Gilbert S, Curley O, Obellianne C, Lin MT, Hixson W, Pierce TW, Andrews JF, Alexeyev MF, Ding Y, Bu P, Behbod F, Medina D, Chang JT, Ayala G, and Grelet S. “Nerve-to-Cancer Transfer of Mitochondria during Cancer Metastasis” Nature (2025).
- Galappaththi SL, Katz B, Howze PH, Hoover G, and Grelet S. “A CRISPR/Cas9-Based Assay for High-Throughput Studies of Cancer-Induced Innervation” Cancers (2023).
- Grelet S, Fréreux C, Obellianne C, Noguchi K, Howley BV, Dalton AC, and Howe PH. “TGFβ-Induced Expression of Long Noncoding lincRNA Platr18 Controls Breast Cancer Axonogenesis” Life Science Alliance (2021).
- Grelet S, Link LA, Howley B, Obellianne C, Palanisamy V, Gangaraju VK, Diehl JA, and Howe PH. “A Regulated PNUTS mRNA to lncRNA Splice Switch Mediates EMT and Tumour Progression” Nature Cell Biology (2017).
Full list of publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ojAf8KoAAAAJ&hl=en
Selected International Press Coverage:
- “2025 Breakthrough of the year” Science (2025). doi: 10.1126/science.z57oqnf.
- The Cancer Researcher Podcast - How Nerves Shape Cancer: From Energy Rewiring to Metastasis. Ep.32. European Association for Cancer Research EACR (2026)
- Mitochondria Comes to the AACR: A Turning Point for Cancer Research and the Rise of Mitochondrial Transfer. Mitoworld (2026)
- Leslie, M. Tumors may get supercharged by acquiring powerhouses of nerve cells. Science (2025) doi: 10.1126/science.zoucswb
- Watson, T. Cancer cells get power boost by stealing mitochondria from nerves. Nature (2025). doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01941-z
- Singh, A. K. & Pan, Y. Neuronal transfer of mitochondria to tumour cells promotes cancer spread. Nature (2025). doi:10.1038/d41586-025-01718-4
- Zelenka L. Neurons feed tumors. Nature Neuroscience (2025) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-025-02048-4
- Gruber, K. Neurons Can Transfer Mitochondria to Cancer Cells. Cancer Discovery (2025). American Association for Cancer Research. doi:10.1158/2159-8290.CD-NW2025-0060
- Wong, C. Cancer cells steal mitochondria from nerve cells to fuel their spread. New Scientist (2025)