Inflammatory chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) induced tumor cells survival and metastasis

Description of projects available to graduate students:
The student would work in this novel area of cancer research focused on inflammation and chemokine receptor expression on cancer cells. This work identified for the first time that expression of the lymph-node homing chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) on metastatic HNC, which is upregulated in response to inflammatory signals. Funded by R01 CA115902 from the NCI, we are studying the link between inflammatory signals in the tumor microenvironment and CCR7-mediated invasion and nodal metastasis. More recently Dr. Ferris’s laboratory showed that downstream, pro-invasive and pro-survival CCR7 signaling are independent of EGFR activation. Since clinically useful EGFR inhibitors are now in clinical use, novel targeted therapy against CCR7, in combination with EGFR inhibition, is being developed by Dr. Ferris’s group for clinical translation.

Techniques graduate student will learn:
Western blotting, flow cytometry plasmid construction and assay of transfectants, quantitative RT-PCR