Supervisor:
Program of Study:
Postdoctoral Fellow, Atlantic Research Centre
Project Title:
Identification of novel targets for breast and colorectal cancer treatment
Research Summary:
A protein ErbB2/Her2 is often overproduced by breast tumors and drives these cancers. Mortality from ErbB2-positive breast cancer is significant and new treatments for this cancer are needed. Breast tumors arise from normal breast cells lining the milk-producing ducts of the breast. If normal cells detach from their original location in the duct they die. In contrast, breast cancer cells need to survive outside of their original location to form tumors and spread through the body. The mechanisms by which ErbB2 promotes survival of cancer cells detached from their original location could serve as new targets for breast cancer treatment. However, these mechanisms are understood incompletely. In an effort to understand them better our lab found that ErbB2 rescues detached breast tumor cells from death by reducing the level of a cell death promoting protein BLNK in the cells. The mechanisms by which BLNK loss rescues breast tumor cells from death are unknown. Our lab found that BLNK loss inactivates a cell death-promoting protein called p38MAPK in tumor cells. We will test whether breast tumor cells can survive outside of their original location because ErbB2 reduces BLNK levels in the cells which in turn inactivates p38MAPK. We will also test whether approaches that increase BLNK levels in tumor cells block their spread through the body in mice. In summary, we expect to discover new mechanisms of ErbB2-driven breast cancer. These mechanisms could serve as targets for new drugs that kill breast cancer cells outside of their original location.
Scholarships and/or Awards:
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- IWK Postdoctoral Postdoctoral Fellowship, IWK Health Center, 2022-2024
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- JOINT PhD Scholarship, University of Groningen and Shenyang Huanggu Hospital, 2016-2021
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- PhD Cancer Research Grant, University Medical Center Groningen, 2018
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- JAN KORNELIS DE COCK-STICHTING grant, PhD research grant, 2017
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- Special Foundation for Young Scientists of Shenyang Health Bureau, 2013
Career Aspirations:
I would like to apply biological tools to investigate basic gene regulatory mechanisms of colorectal cancer and breast cancer and identify new targets to develop new treatments for these cancers.
Location:
Dalhousie University
Publications:
Liu X, Chipurupalli S, Jiang P, Tavasoli M, Yoo BH, McPhee M, Mazinani S, Francia G, Kerbel RS, Rosen KV. ErbB2/Her2-dependent downregulation of a cell death-promoting protein BLNK in breast cancer cells is required for 3D breast tumor growth. Cell Death Dis. 2022, 13(8):687
Jiang P, Nolte IM, Hepkema BG, Stulp M, van den Berg A, Diepstra A. Killer Cell Immunoglobulin-Like Receptor Haplotype B Modulates Susceptibility to EBV-Associated Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma. Front Immunol. 2022, 13:829943
Tan GW *, Jiang P*, Nolte IM, Kushekhar K, Veenstra RN, Hepkema BG, Jarrett RF, van den Berg A, Diepstra A. HLA Expression in Relation to HLA Type in Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma Patients. Cancers (Basel). 2021, 13(22):5833 * co-first author
Jiang P, Veenstra RN, Seitz A, Nolte IM, Hepkema BG, Visser L, van den Berg A, Diepstra A. Interaction between ERAP Alleles and HLA Class I Types Support a Role of Antigen Presentation in Hodgkin Lymphoma Development. Cancers (Basel). 2021 13(3), 414
Liu J, Zhang Q, Ruan B, Chen W, Zheng J, Xu B, Jiang P, Miao Z, Li F, Guo JY, Cao L, Wang G. MORC2 regulates C/EBPα-mediated cell differentiation via sumoylation. Cell Death Differ. 2019 26(10):1905-1917