Research Paper
ASCI Post: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Is a Founding Member of the New Pediatric Preclinical Testing Consortium (Houghton mention)
October 10, 2015
Addressing the relatively small number of new cancer drugs for children, a selective group of leading research centers is joining a new federally funded research consortium aimed at bringing scientific rigor and a concentrated effort to identifying new drug candidates for pediatric clinical trials. The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and four other high-profile oncology […]
Pediatric Blood & Cancer: Inhibition of MEK confers hypersensitivity to X-radiation in the context of BRAF mutation in a model of childhood astrocytoma
October 1, 2015
Adam Studebaker 1, Kathryn Bondra 2, Star Seum 2, Changxian Shen 1, Doris A Phelps 1, Christopher Chronowski 2, Justin Leasure 2, Paul D Smith 3, Raushan T Kurmasheva 1, Xiaokui Mo 4, Maryam Fouladi 5, Peter J Houghton 1 Abstract Purpose: Curative therapy for childhood glioma presents challenges when complete resection is not possible. Patients with recurrent low-grade tumors or anaplastic astrocytoma may receive radiation treatment; however, the long-term sequelae from radiation treatment can be severe. As many […]
NCI PPTC: Sarcoma and Renal Tumor Research Program
September 1, 2015
Dr. Peter Houghton, Dr. Raushan Kurmasheva (Co-Investigator) Dr. Houghton is the Director of the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute, which has as its mission to advance scientific knowledge relevant to childhood cancer and to accelerate the translation of knowledge into novel therapies. Dr. Houghton has been a leader in evaluating experimental agents using childhood […]
Pediatric Blood & Cancer: Radiation therapy may increase metastatic potential in alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma
September 1, 2015
Gary M Woods # 1, Kathryn Bondra # 2, Christopher Chronowski 2, Justin Leasure 2, Mamata Singh 2, Lauren Hensley 2, Timothy P Cripe 1, Arnab Chakravarti 2, Peter Houghton 1 Abstract Background: We previously determined that radiation could be safely administered using a mouse-flank in vivo model to both alveolar (Rh30) and embryonal (Rh18) rhabdomyosarcoma xenografts. Mice from both tumor lines in this experiment developed metastases, an event not previously described with these models. […]
Frontiers in Oncology: Preclinical Childhood Sarcoma Models: Drug Efficacy Biomarker Identification and Validation
August 26, 2015
Over the past 35 years, cure rates for pediatric cancers have increased dramatically. However, it is clear that further dose intensification using cytotoxic agents or radiation therapy is not possible without enhancing morbidity and long-term effects. Consequently, novel, less genotoxic, agents are being sought to complement existing treatments. Here, we discuss preclinical human tumor xenograft […]
Pathobiology of Aging & Age-related Diseases: Rapamycin improves motor function, reduces 4-hydroxynonenal adducted protein in brain, and attenuates synaptic injury in a mouse model of synucleinopathy
August 24, 2015
Xiang Bai, Margaret Chia-Ying Wey, Elizabeth Fernandez, Matthew J. Hart, Jonathan Gelfond, Alex F. Bokov, Sheela Rani & Randy Strong Abstract Background Synucleinopathy is any of a group of age-related neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson’s disease, multiple system atrophy, and dementia with Lewy Bodies, which is characterized by α-synuclein inclusions and parkinsonian motor deficits affecting millions of patients […]
Molecular Cancer Research: ZBTB7A Suppresses Melanoma Metastasis by Transcriptionally Repressing MCAM
August 1, 2015
Xue-Song Liu, Matthew D. Genet, Jenna E. Haines, Elie K. Mehanna, Shaowei Wu, Hung-I Harry Chen, Yidong Chen, Abrar A. Qureshi, Jiali Han, Xiang Chen, David E. Fisher, Pier Paolo Pandolfi, and Zhi-Min Yuan Abstract The excessive metastatic propensity of melanoma makes it the most deadly form of skin cancer, yet the underlying mechanism of metastasis remains elusive. Here, mining of cancer genome datasets discovered a frequent loss of chromosome 19p13.3 and associated downregulation of the zinc finger transcription factor ZBTB7A […]
National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship: Guest Post: Oncologist and Cancer Survivor Greg Aune Talks Multi-Disciplinary Care
July 31, 2015
The Importance of Multidisciplinary Survivorship Care and Research Post by Greg Aune, MD, PhD, Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute, Univ. of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Survivors of cancer are a growing population in the United States that is expected to surpass 18 million by 2020. As a 25-year survivor of Hodgkin’s disease, […]
Biology of Reproduction: Rhox8 Ablation in the Sertoli Cells Using a Tissue-Specific RNAi Approach Results in Impaired Male Fertility in Mice
July 1, 2015
Joshua P. Welborn, Matthew G. Davis, Steven D. Ebers, Genna R. Stodden, Kanako Hayashi, Joseph L. Cheatwood, Manjeet K. Rao, James A. MacLean, II Abstract The reproductive homeobox X-linked, Rhox, genes encode transcription factors that are selectively expressed in reproductive tissues. While there are 33 Rhox genes in mice, only Rhox and Rhox8 are expressed in Sertoli cells, suggesting that they may regulate the expression of somatic-cell gene products […]
BMC Genomics: Co-modulation analysis of gene regulation in breast cancer reveals complex interplay between ESR1 and ERBB2 genes
June 11, 2015
Yu-Chiao Chiu, Chin-Ting Wu, Tzu-Hung Hsiao, Yi-Pin Lai, Chuhsing Kate Hsiao, Yidong Chen & Eric Y Chuang Abstract Background Gene regulation is dynamic across cellular conditions and disease subtypes. From the aspect of regulation under modulation, regulation strength between a pair of genes can be modulated by (dependent on) expression abundance of another gene (modulator gene). […]