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The Division of Tumor Cell Biology works to develop novel translational cancer research in the areas of tumor biology, biomedical informatics and cancer prevention and diagnosis. Housed within the Department of Cancer Biology, the division members collaborate with both Beckman Research Institute researchers and clinicians at City of Hope. The specific research interests of the division include hormonal carcinogenesis (Shiuan Chen, Ph.D.), chemoprevention (Shiuan Chen, Ph.D.), drug resistance (Susan Kane, Ph.D.), TGFß-EGFR cross talk (Emily Wang, Ph.D.), and cancer metabolism (Mei Kong, Ph.D.).
To enhance translational research at City of Hope, Dr. Chen also serves as the scientific co-leader of the Breast Cancer Program, promoting research collaborations in the areas of drug discovery, signal transduction pathways and mechanisms of resistance and metastasis.
In addition to her work in the division, Dr. Kane is co-director of the California State University, Los Angeles and City of Hope Cancer Collaborative, funded through the National Cancer Institute’s Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities. The Collaborative is a partnership that funds pilot projects focused on understanding the underlying causes of and potential interventions for preventing minority disparities in cancer.
In collaboration with the Division of Biomedical Informatics, projects have been initiated on protein structure modeling followed by applied computer-assisted ligand screening to identify promising drugs. Furthermore, gene expression microarray analysis, miRNA profiling analysis and ChIP-sequencing are carried out to investigate the mechanisms of drug resistance.
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Laboratory Research
Dr. Chen has studied the role of aromatase in breast cancer development for more than 20 years. Currently, their research explores the regulatory mechanism of aromatase expression in breast cancer cells and seeks to understand the structure-function relationship of the aromatase protein in order to develop chemoprevention strategies using phytochemicals with anti-aromatase activity. Recognizing aromatase inhibitors (AIs) as important drugs to treat hormone-receptor-positive breast cancer, the team is performing experiments to determine the mechanisms of AI response and resistance in breast tumors.
Dr. Kane’s laboratory studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms of drug resistance to learn more about the mechanism of action of anticancer drugs, why treatments fail and which patients will best respond to specific therapies. Current projects include a cell-based model that explores the molecular basis of resistance to the breast cancer drug trastuzumab and an animal model that uses bioluminescence imaging technology to study expression and regulation of a drug resistance gene in vivo, non-invasively and in real time. Dr. Kane collaborates with David Sadava, Ph.D., an adjunct professor in the division, to study the use of natural products and alternative medicines as anticancer agents. Dr. Sadava studies the effectiveness, mechanisms of action and mechanisms of resistance to agents derived from green tea, Chinese herbs and a variety of other plants.
Dr. Kong’s research aims to delineate the strategies used by tumor cells to survive periods of metabolic stress and then to develop novel therapies targeting nutrient-sensing pathways of neoplastic cells. Elucidating the mechanisms that allow tumor cells to survive under adverse growth conditions is crucial for understanding how tumor develops. Currently, their research focuses on protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) complexes in regulation of cancer cell survival upon nutrients deprivation.
Dr. Wang’s group focuses on the role of signaling by growth factor receptors and oncogenes in cancer progression as well as the development of molecular therapeutics based on mechanistic study. The lab has a strong emphasis on the cross talk among different oncogenic signaling pathways, such as the ErbB and TGF-β receptor networks, and the dynamic interactions between oncogenic signaling and the tumor microenvironment at different stages of the disease. They are exploring several directions to decipher the cooperating functions of oncogenes, including deregulation of mRNA and microRNA gene expression and transformation of tumor-surrounding stromal cells.
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 Recognized as one of the nation’s premier centers for innovative biomedical research, City of Hope’s Beckman Research Institute advances the fundamental understanding of molecular genetics, cellular biology and more. |
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