BCMP Seminar: Targeting Cell Signaling Pathways for Cancer Therapies

Wenyi Wei, PhD

Host: Pengda Liu, PhD

My laboratory mainly focuses on understanding mechanistically how aberrant cell signaling events lead to altered protein homeostasis and cellular functions to facilitate the development of human disorders including cancer. Our research is uniquely poised to understand how post-translational modifications including lysine ubiquitination, acetylation and methylation generate a complex coding system to transduce cellular messages, and crosstalk with other signaling pathways, such as well-studied kinase-cascades, to govern various cellular processes.

One of the major focus lies in understanding how aberrant cell cycle regulation leads to cancer development. To this end, proper cell cycle transitions are largely driven by waves of ubiquitin-dependent degradation of key cell cycle regulators by APC or SCF, the two major E3 ligase complexes. Thus one of the main research focus in my laboratory at Department of Pathology, BIDMC is focused on understanding how APC and SCF activities contribute towards cell cycle regulation and subsequent tumor formation.

I will present new information regarding our dedicated efforts in utilizing multidisciplinary approaches including biochemical and genetic analysis to understand the tumor suppressor role of Cdh1 or Fbw7 and the oncogenic potential of Skp2, as well as in defining the molecular mechanisms underlying how frequent activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR oncogenic signaling pathway drives tumorigenesis. These results will help to better understand the multilayer regulation of the delicate network of signaling pathways and their physiological contribution to cancer development, which will lead us to the design of more efficient intervention strategies to combat cancer and other diseases.