Cancer Biology
Lung cancer immune cell infiltration, by Ana de Oliveira, PhD, Spatial Biology Core
There remains a critical need for effective new therapies to treat cancer. The most powerful approach for new therapeutic discovery begins with uncovering the basic mechanisms that drive cancer, identifying the critical components, and targeting them with small molecules that act as drugs for cancer therapy.
The Cancer Biology (CBIO) Program brings together University of Virginia Comprehensive Cancer Center (UVACCC) investigators to collectively make discoveries about cancer by identify therapeutic targets and developing agents to interfere with these targets. CBIO has two aims to accomplish its overall goals:
This aim seeks to clarify the mechanisms driving cancer, particularly the contribution of various signaling networks to tumor initiation and metastasis.
Investigators work to understand how cellular signaling supports homeostasis in normal tissues and how mutations disturb these networks. These efforts are critical to identifying pathways that represent vulnerabilities in particular cancers. This leads to new targets for validation and development of agents. Research related to this aim centers on the following:
- Biochemistry and cellular consequences of signaling networks
- Systems biology approaches to cell signaling
- Tumor microenvironment
The discovery efforts in the CBIO program are different from those in the Molecular Genetics and Epigenetics (GEN) program. CBIO doesn not focus on chromosome function or epigenetic signaling.
The goals are to verify individual proteins in tumors as targets through mutagenesis, knockdown, or knockout approaches. Then identify or develop small molecule modulators of validated targets in cancers. Research related to this aim centers on the following:
- Identification and validation of specific targets in cancer
- Target validation and inhibitor development via structural biology
- Chemical biology development of inhibitors
- Research/discovery tool development
The CBIO program is led by:
-
-
John Bushweller, PhD
Dr. Bushweller is a leader in structure/function and inhibitor development focused on transcription factors.
-
-
Dan Gioeli, PhD
Dr. Gioeli is a leader in signaling and 3D tumor models.
Learn more about CBIO program members and their research interests.
Immune scaffolding protein LAT (red) conjugated to DOPC lipid membrane (green), by Dr. Hongyin Wang from Dr. Ilya Levental’s lab in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics