Madlambayan Publishes About Leukemia Research

Gerard Madlambayan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, and is the newest member of the CBR. He arrived at OU in the fall of 2010. Below is his new faculty bio.

“Gerard Madlambayan obtained his PhD from the University of Toronto and an MS from the University of Michigan in biomedical engineering. He also holds a BS in chemical engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He is recognized for his basic science and translational research efforts in the areas of stem cell engineering and cancer biology. Prior to joining Oakland University, Dr Madlambayan had academic experience at the University of Florida and industrial experience at Insception Biosciences. In addition to his significant publication record, Gerard has presented his research at several international conferences and has patented a bioprocess for the growth of stem cells, which has been approved for use in clinical trials. Dr Madlambayan’s teaching will support the growing engineering biology program.”

Madlambayan published his most recent paper, titled Acute Myeloid Leukemia Targeting my Myxoma Virus in Vivo Depends on Cell Binding but not Permssivemess to Infection in Vitro, in the May issue of the journal Leukemia Research (Volume 36, Pages 619-624). The introduction to the paper (references removed) is listed below.

“Oncolytic viruses are defined as viruses that selectively kill cancer cells. A multitude of oncolytic virus candidates have been identified including: adenovirus, Herpes simplex virus, reovirus, measles virus, Newcastle disease virus and the poxviruses vaccinia and myxoma virus (MYXV). Significant progress has been made in developing many of these viruses as antineoplastic agents and several are currently in clinical trials, including a genetically modified adenovirus, H101, which was recently approved by China’s State Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of head and neck cancer. Oncolytic viruses have also shown potential in the treatment of hematologic malignancies. Evidence that viruses can selectively cull malignant hematopoietic cells yet spare normal hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), has led to the proposition of using oncolytic viruses as purging agents for autologous hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) grafts.

We recently demonstrated the ability of MYXV to selectively target primary human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells while sparing normal HSPC. However, the mechanisms by which MYXV prevents the engraftment of leukemia cells remain poorly understood. In this study we examined the fundamental requirements of MYXV to specifically target human AML cells and present unexpected, dogma-challenging results that question the reliance of using in vitro infectivity assays to predict oncolytic potency in vivo.”

Madlambayan’s research is supported by a $423,000 grant from Aastrom Biosciences, Inc.