2013 Recipient — Yin Wang, PhD

Yin Wang, PhD

Protein Kinase C iota is a Novel Therapeutic Target for Ovarian Cancer Treatment

Project Summary

Ovarian cancer is still a grave danger to modern society. Factors contributing to this high mortality rate include late diagnosis, ineffective treatment, and a high relapse rate after initial response to conventional therapy. Researchers have found that the highly tumorigenic drug-resistant population of cells in ovarian tumors, which is also named cancer stem-like cells (CSCs), can be linked with high relapse rate. Therefore, targeting those deadly CSCs is a promising way to improve the treatment for ovarian cancer. We previously discovered that an enzyme called protein kinase C iota (PKC iota) is highly linked with human lung cancer, and is required for lung tumor to grow. Thus, we hypothesize that inhibiting PKC iota will be an effective strategy for treating ovarian cancer. To this end, we have identified the FDA-approved drugs, aurothiomalate and auranofin, as potent and selective PKC iota inhibitors. We are currently conducting phase I/II clinical trials of these compounds for treatment of lung and ovarian cancer. In this application, we propose to find how PKC iota promotes the development of ovarian cancer, and we will confirm the link between PKC iota and ovarian CSCs. Finally, we will use our newly-discovered drugs to test their therapeutic effects against ovarian cancer.

This grant was made possible through the generous support of Phil and Judy Messing, in memory of Carol S. Messing.

Areas of Research:

Bio

Dr. Yin Wang is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Alan P. Fields at Mayo Clinic. He obtained his B.S. degree at National Chung Hsing University, Taiwan and received a M.S. degree from the Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology at National Taiwan Ocean University, Taiwan. He was awarded an Othmer Fellowship and completed his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Since he joined the cancer research center at Mayo Clinic, his research focused on understanding the molecular mechanism behind ovarian cancer tumorigenesis and investigating optimal therapeutic targets for treating ovarian cancer.