OU Research Team Studies Brain Tumors

Brain tumors result from abnormal and uncontrolled cell division. A glioma is a particularly aggressive and invasive type of tumor. Hypoxia--the lack of oxygen--causes a glioma to be even more aggressive, and to be resistant to chemotherapy and radiation. The molecule A Disintegrin and Metalloproteinase-17 (ADAM17) enhances the production of many growth factors, and therefore drugs that inhibit ADAM17 may be useful in treating gliomas and may improve patient survival. Hypoxia induces expression of ADAM17 and increases the invasiveness of a glioma. Another molecule, Specificity Transcription Protein-1 (Sp1) may play a role in the transcription of ADAM17. Therefore, one hypothesis is that Sp1 controls glioma invasivemess under hypoxic conditions.

A team of researchers, funded by the National Institutes of Health and led by Distinguished Professor Michael Chopp of the Department of Physics, tested this hypothesis in their recent paper Transcription Factor Sp1 Induces ADAM17 and Contributes to Tumor Cell Invasiveness Under Hypoxia (Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research, Volume 28, Article Number 129). The team includes OU graduate student and lead author Alexandra Szalad and Biomedical Sciences: Medical Physics alumnus Mark Katakowski. They conclude that "our findings suggest the Sp1 transcription factor mediates ADAM17 expression under hypoxia, regulates glioma invasiveness, and thus, may be a target for anti-invasion therapies."