My research program is focused on delineating the molecular underpinnings of cancer development with the goal of both tailoring existing treatment and identifying novel points of therapeutic intervention. In my previous work I identified a novel stage of tumor progression by visualizing the pre-invasive stages of mammary tumorigenesis in real-time using an organotypic culture model. This innovative discovery method revealed that pre-invasive oncogenic signals can induce a dynamic switch from static growth to a previously unrecognized non-invasive form of tumor cell motility that can be detected with both real-time imaging and motility-specific biomarkers. My tissue-specific cell biological discovery platform can thus establish new paradigms for tumorigenesis not revealed with traditional single-cell discovery techniques, and suggest novel steps towards the development of tailored and preventative therapies. I am continuing to investigate the molecular basis of this new non-invasive form of cell motility to determine how cell motility and invasive growth develop during tumorigenesis. I am also exploring the contribution of the tumor microenvironment to neoplastic growth and determine how a tumor develops from an individual cell. These research areas are being explored using organotypic culture models and validated with rodent models and patient tumor samples.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Breast Cancer
Cell motility and invasion
Tissue morphogenesis
Epithelial-to Mesenchymal Transition
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
Gray Pearson and Tony Hunter, "Real-time imaging reveals that noninvasive mammary epithelial acini can contain motile cells" Journal of Cell Biology, 179:1555-1567, December 2007
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