Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in both men and women in USA and worldwide. One of the major causes of colorectal cancer mortality is due to the spreading of cancer cells from primary tumor sites to distant organs, a process known as cancer cell invasion and metastasis. This process is coordinately regulated by various biological molecules and their associated signaling pathways. The long-term objective of my research is to understand colon tumorigenesis and metastatic process by identifying critical molecular drivers, and to understand their function mechanisms to develope effective ways for targeted cancer therapy. Sulfiredoxin is a novel redox enzyme that has a critical role of promoting tumorigenesis and metastasis of colorectal cancer. In this project, our goals are to understand molecular mechanisms by which Sulfiredoxin promotes cancer cell invasion and metastasis, and to test the efficacy of a novel small molecule inhibitor of Srx in blocking human colorectal cancer invasion and metastasis using cell culture as well as mouse models.
This project is aimed to understand role of Sulfiredoxin in colon tumorigenesis and molecular mechanism of Sulfiredoxin in promoting colorectal cancer cell invasion and metastasis. By testing a novel small molecule inhibitor of Sulfiredoxin in the treatment of colorectal cancer in mouse models, we expect to provide proof-of-the-concept data for future translational applications.
Chawsheen, Hedy A; Ying, Qi; Jiang, Hong et al. (2018) A critical role of the thioredoxin domain containing protein 5 (TXNDC5) in redox homeostasis and cancer development. Genes Dis 5:312-322 |