Birthday: 11/03
Year Entered Program: 2002
B.S., Pharmacology, SUNY at Stony Brook
Graduate Advisors: Drs. Guangwei Du and Michael Frohman
Graduate Student Senator, 2003-2004
Research Interests:
Targeting Myosin Phosphatase (MP) Regulation of Cell
Migration in Breast Cancer.
My thesis project is on the regulation of epithelial
cell migration, wound healing and cellular morphology by
the myosin phosphatase (MP) enzyme complex. The MP
complex includes a catalytic subunit (type 1 protein
phosphatase, PP1), and a myosin light chain (MLC)
targeting subunit (MYPT). Phosphatidic acid (PA) has been
reported to inhibit the catalytic activity of MP in vitro.
Our recent findings have identified the enzyme
phospholipase D2 (PLD2) as the in vivo generator of the PA
pool that regulates MP activity at the plasma membrane in
the context of cell morphology (upon attachment and
spreading from a state of suspension). Increased PLD2
activity suppresses MP activity, which leads to increased
MLC phosphorylation at the plasma membrane and inhibition
of cell spreading. Conversely, inhibition or depletion of
PLD2 leads to hyperactivation of MP, which results in MLC
dephosphorylation and accelerated spreading. We will use
this model system to determine the role of the PLD2 --> MP
signaling pathway in cellular morphology and migration in
tumor cells as the initial step in developing a new
approach for cancer therapeutics. It is our ultimate goal
to use this information to drive the development of
chemotherapeutic agents such as Taxol®, which target
components of the cell infrastructure particularly
important for tumor cell metastasis.
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