Page 18 - Hormel Report 2021
P. 18

 Ann M. Bode, Ph.D.
 “Identifying molecular targets for cancer
prevention and treatment has and will
lead to better treatments.”
Ann M. Bode
 18 | THE HORMEL INSTITUTE // Cellular & Molecular Biology
SECTION LEADER / PROFESSOR
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
Three projects include: 1) TOPK/PRPK as novel targets for skin cancer prevention; 2) Developing novel beta-catenin and
CDK2 inhibitors to prevent and treat colon cancer; 3) Prevention of Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma by targeting thromboxane A2 signaling pathway.
Project 1: Solar ultraviolet (sUV) light is an environmental carcinogen that causes inflam- mation and cancer. Notably, the incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is increas- ing. Reducing the incidence of cutaneous squa- mous cell carcinomas (cSCCs) would not only reduce their potentially severe morbidity and mortality, but also reduce the multibillion dollar health bill associated with surgical and medical treatments required. Thus identifying the sig- naling molecules in the development of cSCC is important. We discovered 2 new promising pro- tein kinase targets for preventing sUV-induced skin cancer. The T-LAK cell-originated protein kinase (TOPK) is involved in tumor development, growth, apoptosis, and inflammation. TOPK is highly expressed in NMSCs and melanoma.
      We also found that p53-related protein kinase (PRPK), downstream of TOPK, is a crucial player in skin cancer development. We are examining the role of TOPK and PRPK in sUV-induced skin cancer and testing the effectiveness of TOPK and PRPK inhibitors in preventing and treating sUV-induced skin cancer. (Figure 1)
  






















































































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