NCI Grant Bolsters Cancer Research

The National Cancer Institute in September awarded $1.27 million over four years to Jiyong Zhao, Ph.D., of the Department of Biomedical Genetics, and Luojing Chen, Ph.D., of the Division of Allergy/Immunology and Rheumatology, to investigate a potential target for the treatment of B-cell lymphoma. This grant is in addition to the $11.5 million the NCI recently awarded to the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center to hasten lymphoma research.

Zhao, an assistant professor, and Chen, a research assistant professor, study the mechanisms behind cell proliferation and survival, hallmarks of cancer. Their laboratories have found that protein kinase PKK plays a critical role in the growth of lymphomas, while being nonessential to normal B-cell development. Zhao and Chen have preliminary data showing that suppression of PKK reduces tumor growth and makes cancer cells more sensitive to chemotherapy. This data established the basis for the hypothesis that PKK might be a useful therapeutic target. The objective of the latest research is to better understand how PKK functions, its role in activation of B lymphoma cells, and why it appears to have an essential function in cancer cells.