Cancer Pathogenesis Research Group

Cancer biology, pathogenesis and pharmacology

Key aims and expertise

The cancer groups at the school of veterinary medicine and sciences are members of the Cancer Research Nottingham (CRN) network. Our goal is to advance the prevention, diagnoses and treatment of cancer in people and companion animals. We use a variety of genomewide approaches including next generation transcriptomics and epigenomics in combination with metabolomics, histopathology, immunohistochemistry and clinical integration to understand the cellular mechanisms which endow cancer cells with malignant potential

Through collaborations with physicians at the Queens Medical Centre and major cancer hospitals in the United States and Europe and with our colleagues in the clinical research theme, we are identifying novel molecular mechanisms underlying some of the most aggressive and dangerous cancers.

Current projects

1. Melanoma stem cells as prognostic model for canine and human melanocytic tumours
2. The role of stem cells in human and canine breast cancer 
3. Genetic and epigenetic determinants of metastatic human and canine bladder and prostate cancers
4. The regulation of pro-differentiation transcriptional networks in leukemia and lymphoma
5. The molecular and genetic mechanisms driving osteosarcoma in people and dogs
6. The role of cellular pH and membrane composition on therapy resistance in human cancers 
7. The molecular and physiological basis of benign canine lipoma and malignant liposarcoma

Significant results

• Laursen KB, Mongan NP, Zhuang Y, Ng MM, Benoit YD, Gudas LJ. Polycomb recruitment attenuates retinoic acid-induced transcription of the bivalent NR2F1  gene. Nucleic Acids Res. 2013 May 10. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 23666625.
• Daniel C, Bell C, Burton C, Harguindey S, Reshkin SJ, Rauch C. The role of proton dynamics in the development and maintenance of multidrug resistance in cancer. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2013 May;1832(5):606-17. doi: 10.1016/j.bbadis.2013.01.020. Epub 2013 Feb 1. PubMed PMID: 23376112.
• Hedblom A, Laursen KB, Miftakhova R, Sarwar M, Anagnostaki L, Bredberg A, Mongan NP, Gudas LJ, Persson JL. CDK1 interacts with RARγ and plays an important  role in treatment response of acute myeloid leukemia. Cell Cycle. 2013 Apr 15;12(8):1251-66. doi: 10.4161/cc.24313. Epub 2013 Mar 21. PubMed PMID: 23518499; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3674090.
• Kashyap V, Ahmad S, Nilsson EM, Helczynski L, Kenna S, Persson JL, Gudas LJ, Mongan NP. The lysine specific demethylase-1 (LSD1/KDM1A) regulates VEGF-A expression in prostate cancer. Mol Oncol. 2013 Jun;7(3):555-66. doi: 10.1016/j.molonc.2013.01.003. Epub 2013 Jan 19. PubMed PMID: 23384557; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3661758.
• Pang V, Counillon L, Lagadic-Gossmann D, Poet M, Lacroix J, Sergent O, Khan R, Rauch C. On the role of the difference in surface tensions involved in the allosteric regulation of NHE-1 induced by low to mild osmotic pressure, membrane  tension and lipid asymmetry. Cell Biochem Biophys. 2012 May;63(1):47-57. doi: 10.1007/s12013-012-9340-7. PubMed PMID: 22331497; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3326373.
• Allegrucci C, Rushton MD, Dixon JE, Sottile V, Shah M, Kumari R, Watson S, Alberio R, Johnson AD. Epigenetic reprogramming of breast cancer cells with oocyte extracts. Mol Cancer. 2011 Jan 13;10(1):7. doi: 10.1186/1476-4598-10-7. PubMed PMID: 21232089; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3034708.
• Kauffman EC, Robinson BD, Downes MJ, Powell LG, Lee MM, Scherr DS, Gudas LJ, Mongan NP. Role of androgen receptor and associated lysine-demethylase coregulators, LSD1 and JMJD2A, in localized and advanced human bladder cancer. Mol Carcinog. 2011 Dec;50(12):931-44. doi: 10.1002/mc.20758. Epub 2011 Mar 11. PubMed PMID: 21400613; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3315373.
• Tarabees R, Hill D, Rauch C, Barrow PA, Loughna PT. Endotoxin transiently inhibits protein synthesis through Akt and MAPK mediating pathways in C2C12 myotubes. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol. 2011 Oct;301(4):C895-902. doi: 10.1152/ajpcell.00387.2010. Epub 2011 Jul 20. PubMed PMID: 21775707.
• Rauch C, Pluen A, Foster N, Loughna P, Mobasheri A, Lagadic-Gossmann D,Counillon L. On some aspects of the thermodynamic of membrane recycling mediated by fluid phase endocytosis: evaluation of published data and perspectives. CellBiochem Biophys. 2010 Apr;56(2-3):73-90. doi: 10.1007/s12013-009-9072-5. PubMed PMID: 20013072.
• David KA, Mongan NP, Smith C, Gudas LJ, Nanus DM. Phase I trial of ATRA-IV and Depakote in patients with advanced solid tumor malignancies. Cancer Biol Ther. 2010 May 1;9(9):678-84. Epub 2010 May 8. PubMed PMID: 20200483; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3277777.