Page 40 - Hormel Report 2021

Ningling Kang, Ph.D.
“Liver metastasis” refers to a process that cancer cells, originated from a different part of the human body, spread into the liver. Since the mech- anisms of the spread of cancer into the liver are poorly understood and therapeutic targets are limited, liver metastasis remains a leading cause of the death of cancer patients. My laboratory focuses on bidirectional interactions between liver resident cells and cancer cells and how their interactions regulate cancer growth in the liver. The mechanisms identi- fied will help us develop new therapeutic targets for the prevention and
treatment of liver metastasis.”
Ningling Kang
40 | THE HORMEL INSTITUTE // Tumor Microenvironment and
Metastasis
SECTION LEADER / ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are liver resident cells. In response to cancer invasion of the liver, HSCs change their phenotypes and be-
come myofibroblasts that in turn promote cancer cell implantation and growth in the liver. Trans- forming growth factor beta (TGFβ), released by cancer or other cells in the liver, is the most potent factor responsible for the phenotypic change of HSCs. Thus, the TGFβ signaling in HSCs is a main focus in the research of my laboratory.
We have three projects ongoing in the laboratory.
It is generally accepted that the immune check- point protein PD-L1 is expressed on the plasma membrane of cancer cells and its receptor PD-1 is expressed by various immune cells. Binding of PD- L1 to PD-1 on immune cells leads to cell apoptosis and impaired immune cell function and cytotoxic