Overview
The research activities in our laboratory are focused on signaling pathway identification and molecular targeting of pediatric cancers. These include studying the roles of MDM2 overexpression, MYCN amplification and dysregulation of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein (IAP) family in oncogenesis and progression of disease, as well as in the development of drug resistance. Our current research programs build logically on our previous work, translating basic studies on MDM2, IAP and MYCN-mediated signaling into first preclinical and later a clinical investigation of small molecule inhibitors targeting MDM2, IAP and MYCN for use as novel cancer treatments.
The research projects in our lab include: (1) The interaction between MDM2 protein and XIAP mRNA in cancer progression and drug resistance; (2) Dual inhibition of MDM2 and XIAP by selected small molecule compounds as novel therapeutic strategy in pediatric cancer; (3) Targeting MYCN mRNA by selected small molecule inhibitors in MYCN-amplified neuroblastoma; (4) Discovery of a novel MDM2-tubulin signaling pathway as a therapeutic target in AML.