The Basic Research Program (BRP) provides scientific and technical expertise to NCI's Center for Cancer Research (CCR) in areas ranging from cancer and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), to the basic cellular processes underlying cancer, infectious diseases, and autoimmune disorders. Research topics supported by the BRP include: -Investigating ways in which novel, molecularly targeted cancer therapies can be used alone or in combination with immunotherapy in various tumor models (Molecular Immunotherapy Section, Cancer and Inflammation Program). -Understanding the genetic basis for resistance or susceptibility to disease conferred by human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I and class II genes, which have a central role in the innate immune response (HLA Immunogenetics Section, Cancer and Inflammation Program). -Investigating the role of cytokines such as interleukin-7 (IL-7) in the development of T lymphocyte and natural killer (NK) cell lineages and their role in promoting cell survival, terminal differentiation, and apoptotic cell death (Immunological Cytokine Research Section, Cancer and Inflammation Program). -Examining the role of dendritic cells, other innate or adaptive effector cell types, and proinflammatory or immunoregulatory cytokines on carcinogenesis and cancer therapy (Cancer Immunobiology Section, Cancer and Inflammation Program). -Identifying and defining the molecular events that regulate lineage commitment and terminal differentiation of hemotopoietic stem cells (Hematopoiesis and Stem Cell Biology Section, Laboratory of Cancer Prevention). -Defining the cell surface markers, metastasis ability, and pathways for growth and self-renewal, of cancer stem cells from prostate, breast, glioma, and renal cell carcinomas (Cancer Stem Cell Section, Laboratory of Cancer Prevention). -Studying the role that epigenetic regulation plays in cellular differentiation, embryonic development, and tumorigenesis (Epigenetics Group, Laboratory of Cancer Prevention). -Understanding the structure and function of glycosyltransferases and developing novel glycosyltransferases for targeted drug delivery and contrast agents for medical imaging (Structural Glycobiology Section, CCR Nanobiology Program). -Developing highly efficient, state-of-the-art algorithms to discover the structural patterns of proteins and predict molecular associations (i.e., protein-protein interactions) in support of nanodesign for cancer diagnosis, therapy, and prevention (Computational Structural Biology Group, CCR Nanobiology Program). -Support in bioassay development and screening, natural products chemistry, protein chemistry, molecular biology, and high-content cellular imaging to facilitate multidisciplinary, molecular targets discovery research (Molecular Targets Laboratory). -Basic and applied chemistry support for studies characterizing the reactions of the bioregulatory agent nitric oxide (NO) with organic compounds (Chemistry Section, Chemical Biology Laboratory). -Discovery and characterization of renal carcinoma susceptibility genes (Urologic Oncology Research Group, Urologic Oncology Branch).
