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CSB Main Address: UTHSCSA CSB 7703 Floyd Curl Drive San Antonio, TX 78229-3900 Phone: 210-567-3800
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CSB Faculty
(210) 567-5746 Dr. Sun serves as Leader of Cell & Molecular Biology Track of the Integrated Multidisciplinary Graduate Program. He participated in the discovery of the tumor suppressive activity of the transforming growth factor beta type II receptor in human carcinomas. He lectures for the new Graduate School core course - Fundamentals of Biomedical Sciences. He also serves as a panel reviewer for NIH Cancer Biomarker Study Section. My laboratory studies molecular mechanisms that regulate carcinogenesis and cancer cell growth, invasion, and metastasis using molecular and cellular biology techniques and animal model systems. One of the molecules we are currently studying is called transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta). This growth factor has been shown to inhibit tumorigenesis and growth of some early-stage adenocarcinoma cells, yet promote growth and metastasis in late-stage carcinoma cells. We are trying to understand why a given polypeptide growth factor has such opposing effects and to devise the means that can enhance its tumor-suppressing activity while antagonizing its tumor-promoting activity. We are particularly interested in determining whether TGF beta antagonists can suppress TGF beta-promoted tumor metastasis.
Other projects in the laboratory include the role of estrogen and androgen signaling in promoting tumorigenesis and progression in the mammary gland and prostate gland, respectively. Our approaches to study regulation of gene expression include transcriptional and posttranscriptional analyses with techniques such as gene microarray, promoter activity measurements, chromosome immunoprecipitation, polymerase chain reaction, quantitative real-time RT-PCR, receptor cross-linking, immunoprecipitation and Western blotting analyses. To study gene functions, we use sense transfection, RNA interference, and viral transduction techniques to regulate gene expression and study the effects of altered gene expression on malignant phenotypes of cancer cells in tissue culture and in mice.
Research Techniques:
PUBLICATIONS: Bandyopadhyay A, Agyin JK, Wang L, Tang Y, Lei X, Story BM, Cornell JE, Pollock BH, Mundy GR, Sun LZ. (2006) Inhibition of pulmonary and skeletal metastasis by a transforming growth factor-beta type I receptor kinase inhibitor. Cancer Res. Jul 1;66(13):6714-21. Bandyopadhyay A, Elkahloun A, Baysa SJ, Wang L, Sun LZ. (2005) Development and gene expression profiling of a metastatic variant of the human breast cancer MDA-MB-435 cells. Cancer Biol Ther. Feb;4(2):168-74. Epub 2005 Feb 8. Bandyopadhyay A, Wang L, Lopez-Casillas F, Mendoza V, Yeh IT, Sun L. (2005) Systemic administration of a soluble betaglycan suppresses tumor growth, angiogenesis, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression in a human xenograft model of prostate cancer. Prostate. Apr 1;63(1):81-90. Sun L. (2004) Tumor-suppressive and promoting function of transforming growth factor beta. Front Biosci. May 1;9:1925-35. Lei X, Zhu Y, Tomkinson A, Sun L. (2004) Measurement of DNA mismatch repair activity in live cells.. Nucleic Acids Res. Jul 12;32(12):e100.
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LuZhe Sun, Ph.D., Professor
Systemic administration of a TGF beta type I receptor kinase inhibitor (TbRI-I) reduced breast cancer cell-induced metastatic tumor incidence and tumor burden in femora of nude mice.