President William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, (left) and CTRC Executive Director Ian M. Thompson, M.D., (right) congratulate Shou-Jiang Gao, Ph.D., and Patricia Dahia, M.D., Ph.D., for their Discovery of the Year awards.
Printer Friendly Format

Two researchers at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio were chosen for the CTRC’s first Discovery of the Year award.

Patricia Dahia, M.D., Ph.D., tied with Shou-Jiang (S.J.) Gao, Ph.D., for the honor, awarded at the CTRC’s annual Board of Governors meeting.

The CTRC Board of Governors is a group of individuals from San Antonio and South Texas who promote the mission of the Cancer Center through community outreach, education and fundraising. On Thursday, Sept. 30, they got a chance to personally meet the researchers they help support.

The awards, presented by UT Health Science Center President William L. Henrich, M.D., MACP, were in recognition for the groundbreaking work the researchers have done at the molecular level.

“The two winners of the Discovery of the Year Awards epitomize the quality of science being performed at the CTRC and the UT Health Science Center,” said CTRC Executive Director Ian Thompson, M.D. “Dr. Dahia's observations related to pheochromocytoma may have a profound impact on the diagnosis of this terrible disease, especially for families in which the disease may be found. Dr. Gao's work on viruses and cancer give us not only an understanding of how some cancers develop, but also an opportunity to improve cure rates.”

Adrenal cancer discovery
Dr. Dahia is an assistant professor of hematology and medical oncology in the School of Medicine, with a cross appointment to the Department of Cellular & Structural Biology, part of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Her research group identified a new tumor-suppressor gene tied to a rare, hereditary form of adrenal cancer. The adrenal glands release hormones that regulate the body’s response to stress.

The gene, TMEM127, normally controls cell growth, but if it is mutated and not functioning properly, it contributes to pheochromocytoma, a tumor on the adrenal gland.

Dr. Dahia’s group also found a link between TMEM127 and a molecule called mTOR. mTOR encourages cell growth and is known to be involved in cancer and aging. These two proteins appear to perform a biological balancing act.

“You can think of TMEM127 as being one of the brakes for mTOR,” Dr. Dahia said. “The organism, as a whole, has a system where there are many brakes and many accelerators, and they have to work in perfect balance all the time.”

But the mutated TMEM127 doesn’t put on the brakes for mTOR, and, as a result, tumors from patients who had the genetic mutation also had abnormally high mTOR function.

The discovery of TMEM127 as a cancer gene and its apparent relationship to mTOR mean that people with the TMEM127 mutation can be followed more closely, and their family members can be screened and diagnosed early, as well. The team is broadening its study to see if other tumors have TMEM127 mutations and is developing a mouse model where the TMEM127 gene is absent to get a more detailed view of the exact function of TMEM127 in cells.

The study was published in the journal Nature Genetics in February.

Understanding Kaposi’s sarcoma
People with AIDS often develop a malignant cancer called Kaposi’s sarcoma, which is caused by a virus called Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. Dr. Gao is part of a team that uncovered how a tiny molecule helps the virus survive in the body.

Dr. Gao is a professor in the School of Medicine, holds the H-E-B Distinguished Chair for Cancer Research and heads the tumor virology program at the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute.

The Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus is different from the typical strains of herpesviruses that cause chicken pox, shingles and cold sores, and while many people may carry them, they don’t aggressively replicate and cause problems unless the human immune system is compromised, as it is with AIDS and Kaposi’s sarcoma.

The virus “hides” within a healthy body by using one of its own tiny microRNA molecules as a sort of thermostat. The microRNA either slows viral replication, allowing the virus to hide in the host and evade the immune system, or when the host has immune problems, the thermostat speeds up and the virus mounts an offensive.

“Our paper is the first to use a genetic approach to show that microRNA regulates the viral lifecycle of Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus,” Dr. Gao said. “It’s a very basic study, but there are lots of implications.”

The information provides clues toward understanding virus latency and replication, knowledge that could help researchers identify biomarkers and therapeutic targets, he said, and possibly even a strategy for vaccine development.

Dr. Gao’s research was published in Nature Cell Biology in January. He also heads the tumor virology program at the university’s Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute.

Research round table presentations
The board members also heard about other cancer research going on at the Health Science Center. They sat at tables and in conference rooms with researchers and talked with them about their work.

Other presenters at the meeting were:

• Dave Sharp, Ph.D., professor of molecular medicine — “Can we prevent cancer by staying young?”
  
• Rita Ghosh, Ph.D., assistant professor of radiology in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences — “Cancer prevention and treatment with nutrition”
  
• Monica Mita, M.D., assistant professor of hematology and medical oncology at the CTRC — “Laser-guided bombs and cancer cure: The Phase I program at CTRC”
  
• LuZhe Sun, Ph.D., professor of cellular and structural biology and pharmacology — “The inner workings of a cancer cell: The key to a cancer cure”
  
• Ian M. Thompson Jr., M.D., professor and chair of urology and CTRC executive director — “What does your PSA mean?”
  
• Sue Mooberry, Ph.D., interim director of the Institute for Drug Development, professor of pharmacology with cross appointments in medicine and biochemistry — “Cancer drug discovery from Texas plants”
  
• Peter Ravdin, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Breast Health Clinic at the CTRC — “Advanced detection and treatment of breast cancer”
  
• Dmitri Ivanov, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry — “Designing new drugs to combat cancer by knowing how they’re structured”
  
• Anand Karnad, M.D., professor of medicine — “Cancer clinical trials: Why lives depend upon them!”