1999 Individual Investigator Award Recipient — Jon Wiener, PhD
Project Summary
Protein tyrosine kinases (PTK) regulate many cellular responses involved in cell proliferation, differentiation, cell communication and regulation of gene expression. The Src PTK is expressed in many cell types and may interface with diverse signaling cascades that catalyze and regulate complex cell processes. Aberrant activation of the Src PTK has been studied in numerous human cancers but little is known in human ovarian cancers. Dr. Wiener’s group has found that Src is over-expressed in late stage human ovarian cancers and in several ovarian cancer cell lines. Inhibition of Src stops cell growth and tumor development in nude mice without altering normal proliferative functions. This suggests that Src may function as an oncogene, or cancer-causing gene, in malignant ovarian epithelium. Research also shows that lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), a growth factor found in the fluid of advanced ovarian, requires Src and the activation of certain signaling pathways. Dr. Weiner’s group has identified a small molecule which inhibits Src and hypothesizes that this inhibition will prevent the production and secretion of the activators required for some phases of ovarian cancer cell reproduction. The studies of Dr. Wiener’s group may form a basis for employing Src inhibitors as anti-metastatic agents in advanced ovarian cancers, thereby rendering these cancers suitable for techniques that can address regional disease instead of widely metastatic disease.