Many tumors are hypoxic, and hypoxic tumors are more aggressive than non-hypoxic tumors. The goal of our laboratory is to determine how cellular proliferation and differentiation are regulated in hypoxic cells, and how this may affect tumor progression. We use a variety of molecular biology, cell biology, and biochemical techniques to explore how cell cycle checkpoints are regulated in hypoxic cells (and how this regulation may be aberrant in tumor cells) and how gene expression is regulated in hypoxic cells (and the significance of this hypoxic regulation). Although we study basic cellular processes, our ultimate goal is to better understand and treat human cancers.
Most normal cells undergo a cell cycle arrest when rendered hypoxic. Many neoplastic cells, when hypoxic, can proliferate. We have delineated two cell cycle checkpoints that are activated in normal hypoxic cells. Under moderate hypoxic conditions, CDK2 activity is ... [more]
