Ovarian cancer is the eighth most common cancer in women and ranks first as the cause of death for gynecological cancers. Obviously, there is an urgent need to develop novel prevention and treatment methods for ovarian cancer. To do this, we must better understand key early events associated with ovarian cancer initiation and progression to identify important pathways that can ultimately be targeted with therapeutics.
The main focus of the laboratory is to understand the molecular and cellular basis of ovarian cancer initiation and progression. Specifically, we are interested in the role of cellular senescence, a state of irreversible cell growth arrest, in suppressor of epithelial ovarian cancer development. In addition, we are investigating how alterations in Wnt signaling pathway contribute to ovarian cancer development. The knowledge gained from these studies may ultimately lead to development of novel markers for ovarian cancer early detection and prognosis, and identification of novel therapeutic targets for ovarian cancer treatment.
Description of research projectsFox Chase Programs
- Zhang R, Richardson AM, Horng D, Egan KP, Wright AC, Pignolo RJ, Adams PD. Histone chaperones HIRA and ASF1a contribute to differentiation-associated proliferation arrest of progenitor cells. Submitted.
- Banumathy G, Somaiah N, Zhang R, Schultz D, Andrake M, Ceulemans H, Adams PD. Human UBN1 is an ortholog of yeast Hpc2p and has an essential role in the HIRA/ASF1a chromatin-remodeling pathway in senescent cells. Submitted.
- Poleshko A, Palagin I, Zhang R, Boimel P, Castagna C, Adams PD, Skalka AM, Katz RA. Identification of cellular proteins that maintain retroviral epigenetic silencing: evidence for an antiviral response. J Virol. 2008 Mar;82(5):2313-23. PubMed
- Ye X, Zerlanko B, Kennedy A, Banumathy G, Zhang R, Adams PD. Downregulation of Wnt signaling is a trigger for formation of facultative heterochromatin and onset of cell senescence in primary human cells. Mol Cell. 2007 Jul 20;27(2):183-96. PubMed
- Zhang R, Chen W, Adams PD. Molecular dissection of formation of senescence-associated heterochromatin foci. Mol Cell Biol. 2007 Mar;27(6):2343-58. PubMed
- Ye X, Zerlanko B, Zhang R, Somaiah N, Lipinski M, Salomoni P, Adams PD. Definition of pRB- and p53-dependent and -independent steps in HIRA/ASF1a-mediated formation of senescence-associated heterochromatin foci. Mol Cell Biol. 2007 Apr;27(7):2452-65. PubMed
- Zhang R, Liu ST, Chen W, Bonner M, Pehrson J, Yen TJ, Adams PD. HP1 proteins are essential for a dynamic nuclear response that rescues the function of perturbed heterochromatin in primary human cells. Mol Cell Biol. 2007 Feb;27:949-62. PubMed
- Zhang R, Poustovoitov MV, Ye X, Santos HA, Chen W, Daganzo SM, Erzberger JP, Serebriiskii IG, Canutescu AA, Dunbrack RL, Pehrson JR, Berger JM, Kaufman PD, Adams PD. Formation of MacroH2A-containing senescence-associated heterochromatin foci and senescence driven by ASF1a and HIRA. Dev Cell. 2005 Jan;8(1):19-30. PubMed
- Daganzo SM, Erzberger JP, Lam WM, Skordalakes E, Zhang R, Franco AA, Brill SJ, Adams PD, Berger JM, Kaufman PD. Structure and function of the conserved core of histone deposition protein Asf1. Curr Biol. 2003 Dec 16;13(24):2148-58. PubMed