USC researchers advance understanding of prostate cancer development
Researchers say the upcoming study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences may lead to a novel cancer therapy for humans.
“This research has far-reaching implications in a wide range for human cancers,” says Amy Lee, the study’s principal investigator and the associate director for basic research and holder of the Freeman Cosmetics Chair at the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. "It is a breakthrough study.”
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and develops through successive stages. The glucose-regulated protein GRP78 has been identified as a crucial entity in the development of prostate cancer by promoting cancer cell proliferation, mediating oncogenic signaling and protecting cancer cells against cell death resulting from the stress of tumor development, Lee explains.
By suppressing GRP78 expression or activity, the USC researchers found that they could block prostate cancer activation and development resulting from the loss of PTEN, a powerful tumor suppressor gene for a number of human cancers.
Researchers spent more than three years monitoring prostate cancer development in animal models that had been genetically engineered to have both the GRP78 and PTEN tumor suppressor genes inactivated. The research was conducted by Yong Fu, a Ph.D. candidate at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the first author on the study, in collaboration with Ph.D candidates Shiuan Wey, Miao Wang, Risheng Ye and Chun-Peng Liao and Pradip Roy-Burman, M.D., professor of pathology, biochemistry and molecular biology at the Keck School.
Future research should test the role of GRP78 in other types of cancer and isolate drugs that inhibit GRP78, Lee says.
“To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration that inactivation of a specific molecular chaperone from the mouse prostate epithelial cells can potently block prostate cancer development and suppress the activation of AKT, which is a protein kinase that promotes cell proliferation and survival and is a major factor in many types of cancer,” Lee says. “With the recent advances in identifying agents that suppress GRP78 expression, anti-GRP78 therapy may open up an entirely new approach to stop human cancer.”
The study was funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute that has been awarded to Amy Lee for the past 28 years.
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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