The goal of the Molecular and Cellular Cancer Biology Program (MCCBP), a basic research program, is to gain new insight into the molecular and cellular basis of cancer development and progression that can eventually be translated into the development of novel biomarkers of progression and treatment regimens. MCCBP research activities fall under three central themes: 1) genome stability; 2) signal transduction; and 3) mitochondria and metabolism.
Specific aims of the MCCBP are to: 1) elucidate mechanisms of genome instability; 2) understand aberrant signal transduction in tumor cells; 3) investigate bioenergetic alterations and loss of apoptotic signaling in tumor cells; and 4) provide capacity building in support of the three research themes. Through collaboration and communication with other UPCI programs and translational disease-site groups, novel research findings by MCCBP investigators are translated into promising clinical applications, including the development of new targeted therapies and identification and validation of biomarkers. During the last funding cycle, the Program has lost 15 members but has added additional investigators and has grown by about 71% from 39 to 55 actively participating members, representing 17 departments and three schools at the University of Pittsburgh and one at Carnegie Mellon University. New members have been strategically added each year. Currently, MCCBP members receive over $9.8 M annually in direct funding, including $4.1 M from the NCI and $5.1 M in other peer-reviewed support. Between January 2010 and April 2014, MCCBP members have authored 771 cancer-related publications, of which 25% resulted from intra-programmatic and 38% from inter-programmatic collaborations. Approximately 42% of the papers represent collaborations with external investigators. The overall aim of the Program is to make fundamental discoveries in cancer biology in the key thematic areas. MCCBP leadership and members continue to achieve scientific impact through successful translation of pre-clinical research findings to clinical problems through strategic interactions with UPCI membership of other translational and clinical programs. UPCI support, including shared resources, specifically the Animal Facility, Biostatistics Facility, Cancer Bioinformatics Services, Cancer Genomics Facility, Cancer Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics Facility, Cancer Proteomics Facility, Cell and Tissue Imaging Facility, Chemical Biology Facility, Cytometry Facility, Immunological Monitoring and Cellular Products Laboratory, In Vivo Imaging Facility, and Tissue and Research Pathology Services facilitates and enhances MCCBP research.

Public Health Relevance

The mission of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) is to reduce the burden of cancer in western Pennsylvania and the nation through research, patient care, education and outreach. Since its founding in 1985, UPCI has been at the forefront in discovery and advancement of scientific findings that have led to new strategies for preventing, detecting, diagnosing, and treating cancer, and for addressing the health-related needs and well-being of cancer patients and survivors.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Center Core Grants (P30)
Project #
5P30CA047904-30
Application #
9543981
Study Section
Subcommittee I - Transistion to Independence (NCI)
Program Officer
Ptak, Krzysztof
Project Start
1997-09-10
Project End
2020-07-31
Budget Start
2018-08-01
Budget End
2019-07-31
Support Year
30
Fiscal Year
2018
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Pittsburgh
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
004514360
City
Pittsburgh
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
15213
Chen, Ruochan; Zhu, Shan; Fan, Xue-Gong et al. (2018) High mobility group protein B1 controls liver cancer initiation through yes-associated protein -dependent aerobic glycolysis. Hepatology 67:1823-1841
Zahorchak, Alan F; Macedo, Camila; Hamm, David E et al. (2018) High PD-L1/CD86 MFI ratio and IL-10 secretion characterize human regulatory dendritic cells generated for clinical testing in organ transplantation. Cell Immunol 323:9-18
Rogers, Meredith C; Lamens, Kristina D; Shafagati, Nazly et al. (2018) CD4+ Regulatory T Cells Exert Differential Functions during Early and Late Stages of the Immune Response to Respiratory Viruses. J Immunol 201:1253-1266
Butterfield, Lisa H (2018) The Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer Biomarkers Task Force recommendations review. Semin Cancer Biol 52:12-15
Jing, Y; Nguyen, M M; Wang, D et al. (2018) DHX15 promotes prostate cancer progression by stimulating Siah2-mediated ubiquitination of androgen receptor. Oncogene 37:638-650
Singh, Krishna B; Ji, Xinhua; Singh, Shivendra V (2018) Therapeutic Potential of Leelamine, a Novel Inhibitor of Androgen Receptor and Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer. Mol Cancer Ther 17:2079-2090
Gao, Ying; Tan, Jun; Jin, Jingyi et al. (2018) SIRT6 facilitates directional telomere movement upon oxidative damage. Sci Rep 8:5407
Krishnamurthy, Anuradha; Dasari, Arvind; Noonan, Anne M et al. (2018) Phase Ib Results of the Rational Combination of Selumetinib and Cyclosporin A in Advanced Solid Tumors with an Expansion Cohort in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer. Cancer Res 78:5398-5407
Santos, Patricia M; Butterfield, Lisa H (2018) Next Steps for Immune Checkpoints in Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Gastroenterology 155:1684-1686
Liu, Zuqiang; Ge, Yan; Wang, Haiyan et al. (2018) Modifying the cancer-immune set point using vaccinia virus expressing re-designed interleukin-2. Nat Commun 9:4682

Showing the most recent 10 out of 1187 publications