Molecular Biology Commons^™

Novel Mechanisms Of Protein Kinase C Α Regulation And Function, Xinyue Li

Theses & Dissertations

Protein kinase Cα (PKCα) is a member of the PKC family of serine/threonine kinases, which have been implicated in regulation of many cellular processes, including cell proliferation, differentiation, survival, and transformation. A large body of evidence from the Black laboratory and others support an anti-proliferative function of PKCα in normal epithelial tissues, including the intestinal mucosa and endometrial epithelium. PKCα is also tumor suppressive in epithelial cancers, such as colorectal cancer (CRC) and endometrial cancer (EC). However, a major obstacle to harnessing the tumor suppressive functions of PKCα to benefit patients is the widespread loss of PKCα expression in tumors. …

Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Myc And Pgc1Β Expression In Colon Cancer, Jamie L. Mccall

Theses & Dissertations

Identification and characterization of pathways specific to tumor cell survival, but absent in normal tissues, provide opportunities to develop effective cancer therapies with reduced toxicity to the patient. Kinase suppressor of Ras 1 (KSR1) is required for the survival of colorectal cancer (CRC) cells, but dispensable in normal cells. Using KSR1 as a reference standard, we identified EPH (erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular carcinoma) receptor (EPHB4) as a KSR1 functional analog.

We show here that, like KSR1, EPHB4 is aberrantly overexpressed in human CRC cells and selectively required for their survival. Both KSR1 and EPHB4 support tumor cell survival by promoting the expression …