Our work aims to define new molecular targets for the development of novel cancer therapies. To accomplish our goals we rely on genomic technologies combined with molecular and cell biology techniques. Jindrich Kopecek - Design, synthesis, and mechanism of action of macromolecular therapeutics. Attachment of anticancer drugs to polymeric carriers results in an increased accumulation in the tumor tissue, decreased non-specific toxicity, and a different mechanism of action when compared to free drugs. The toxicity, gene expression, and signaling pathways in human ovarian carcinoma models exposed to polymeric drugs are being evaluated in vitro and in vivo.
Several conjugates are in clinical trials.
Betty Leibold - We are interested in the pathways by which mammalian cells respond to and adapt to stresses, including metals, oxygen and nitrogen radicals and hypoxia. We are determining the stress-activated signal transduction pathways and genes whose expression is required for survival during stress. We use mammalian cell culture, transgenic mouse models, biochemistry and genetics using C. elegans to determine how organisms survive during stress. Susan Mango - Our lab is interested in the mechanisms that underlie organogenesis, including cell fate determination and morphogenesis. We use genetics, experimental embryology and molecular approaches with C. elegans, a small, free-living nematode.