Molecular mechanisms of tumor cell invasion, metastases and angiogenesis: the roles of growth factors and guanine exchange factors

Description of projects available to graduate students:
Research in our laboratory is focused on the molecular mechanisms underlying the process of migratory/invasive behaviors of human tumor cells and development of blood vessels. Using cell culture, xenograft tumors and primary human tumor specimens as our model systems, we are investigating the roles of growth factors such as epidermal growth factor (EGF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiopoietin-2 (Ang2), and involvement and regulation of guanine exchange factors in these processes. We are currently investigating the involvement and regulation of guanine exchange factors that activate small GTPases such as Rac, Cdc42 and Rho leading to increased tumor and endothelial cell motility.

Projects for rotation students:

* construction and expression of various molecules that are involved in cell motility.
* establishment of stable tumor cell lines that express these molecules.
* contrstuction and production of retroviral expressing vetors and subsequently establishments of tumor cell lines stably expressing the retroviral vectors.

Techniques graduate student will learn:
* cell culture
* general molecular biology techniques including subcloning, plasmid preps, PCR, mini-DNA array, and agarose gel electrophoresis.
* siRNA
* SDS-PAGE, immunoprecipitation, western blotting, protein kinase assays and ELISA.
* heterologous expression of proteins
* generation and purification of replication-defective recombinant retroviruses
* cell migration, cell invasion assays and zymographic analyses
* light and immunofluorescence microscopy, confocal microscopy
* Immunohistochemistry