Our major focus has been to characterize the role of a new family of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK), the Eph receptors and their ligands ephrins, in cancer metastasis and tumor angiogenesis. Our approach involves a combination of oncogenomics and proteomics, confocal microscopy and imaging, transgenic and knock out animal models, and traditional cell biology and biochemistry techniques.
Eph RTKs and their ligands are dysregulated in tumor tissues and expression of these molecules is associated with clinical outcome of various cancer type. In particular, EphA2 receptor plays critical roles in both tumor cells and tumor blood vessels. Our laboratory demonstrated that epithelial EphA2 is required for cell proliferation and tumor initiation. We also showed that vascular endothelial EphA2 promotes tumor progression through angiogenesis. As EphA2 regulates both tumor cells and host microenvironment, it is a good target for cancer therapy. Several anti-EphA2 agents have been developed and some of those are under clinical trials.
Current projects in the lab include:
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- Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center
Faculty Member
1161 21st Ave South
T-3207E MCN Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Nashville, TN 37232
615-343-3819 (p)
MeSH terms are retrieved from PubMed records. Learn more.
Key: MeSH Term Keyword
Adenocarcinoma Angiogenesis Inhibitors breast cancer cancer stem cells Chimera Collagen Gene Expression Profiling Genotype Immunity, Humoral Incidence lung cancer Lysosomes Mammary Tumor Virus, Mouse Membrane Glycoproteins Metastasis Mice, Nude Mutagenesis, Site-Directed Mutation, Missense Organ Culture Techniques Osteoclasts Oxygen Polymerase Chain Reaction Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases Proto-Oncogene Proteins Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt Rats, Sprague-Dawley Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta Recombinant Fusion Proteins Retinopathy of Prematurity Solubility stem cells Time Factors Trans-Activators Tumor Cells, Cultured tumor metabolism Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha