BIOLOGY OF OVARIAN CANCER

一个互动的，跨学科的小组将集中在遗传，分子，细胞和整个有机体水平的卵巢癌的病理生物学。1)第一个项目将通过阵列CGH和表达阵列分析使用基因组拷贝数和表达谱，以检测和定位复发性基因组拷贝数或基因表达变化及其与组织学、进展和临床结果的关联;相关性将用组织微阵列进行验证，2）使用高分辨率阵列CGH进行基因发现以检测复发性基因组变化的区域，比较基因组测序以鉴定与狭窄定义的区域相关的基因，以及分析以改变的基因组拷贝数存在并在人类肿瘤中差异表达的基因的功能。在第二个项目中，基于这样的假设，即了解LPA的产生和作用的机制将提高对肿瘤发生进展和结果的理解，并将导致新的诊断和治疗方法，LPA及其受体在致癌作用中的作用将被表征，LPA在卵巢癌细胞中诱导的基因被鉴定，并评估LPA水平在检测和管理中的可能用途。第三个项目是基于ARHI基因的发现，研究ARHI基因在卵巢癌细胞中表达缺失的临床意义和机制，包括：1）ARHI基因表达对卵巢癌细胞增殖、侵袭、转移和存活的影响; 2）ARHI基因干扰信号转导的机制;和3）使用ARHI进行卵巢癌异种移植物的基因治疗，使用或不使用细胞毒性药物。在第四个项目中，由于80%的卵巢癌中PI 3-K的拷贝数增加，将确定PI 3-K通路异常在发病机制中的作用，PI 3-K通路异常对生长因子反应性的影响，以及通过卵巢癌细胞中PI 3-K级联调节信号传导的机制。这些项目将由三个核心服务：管理，生物统计学和组织/病理学。

An interactive, interdisciplinary group will focus on the pathobiology of ovarian cancer at the genetic, molecular, cellular, and whole organism levels. 1) The first project will employ genome copy number and expression profiling by array CGH and expression array analysis to detect and localize recurrent genome copy number or gene expression changes and their association with histology, progression and clinical outcome; associations will be validated with tissue microarrays and 2) gene discovery using high-resolution array CGH to detect regions of recurrent genomic changes, comparative genomic sequencing to identify genes associated with narrowly defined regions, and analyzing functions of genes present at altered genome copy number and differentially expressed in human tumors. In the second project, based on the hypothesis that understanding mechanisms underlying production and action of LPA will improve understanding of tumorigenesis progression, and outcome and will lead to new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches, the role of LPA and its receptors in carcinogenesis will be characterized, the genes induced by LPA in ovarian cancer cells identified, and the possible use of LPA levels in detection and management assessed. The third project, based on the discovery of a putative novel tumor suppressor gene, ARHI, the clinical significance and mechanism of loss of ARHI expression in malignant ovarian epithelial cells, will be studied by determining: 1) effects of ARHI expression of proliferation, invasion, metastasis and survival of ovarian cancer cells, 2) mechanisms by which ARHI interferes with signal transduction; and 3) use of ARHI for gene therapy of ovarian cancer xenografts with our without cytotoxic drugs. In the fourth project, because of an increased copy number in PI3-K in 80% of ovarian cancers, the role of abnormalities in the PI3K pathway in pathogenesis, the effect of abnormalities in the PI3-K pathway on responsiveness to growth factors and, the mechanisms regulating signaling through the PI3-K cascade in ovarian cancer cells will be determined. The projects will be subserved by three cores: Administration, Biometry and Tissue/Pathology.