Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2010

Mentor: Nima Sharifi, M.D.
Department: Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology
Room number: ND3.120
Mail Code: 8834
Phone number: 645-5910
E-mail: nima.sharifi@utsouthwestern.edu
Project title: Mechanisms of intratumoral androgen genesis in resistant prostate cancer

Human subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable): n/a

Animal subjects IRB approved project number (where applicable): n/a

Project Type basic research

Brief Description of Project:

Metastatic prostate cancer is first treated with androgen deprivation by medical castration. Resistance to androgen deprivation almost always occurs and is accompanied by the reconstitution of intratumoral androgens, which drive androgen receptor activity and tumor progression. Little is understood about how testosterone and dihydrotestosterone are regenerated in this resistant form of cancer and insight into these mechanisms are expected to lead to novel therapeutic strategies. Projects in this laboratory are focused on how the resistant form of prostate cancer changes the metabolic conversion of steroid precursors, such as DHEA, to testosterone and dihydrotestosterone. Specific metabolic steps of interest are mediated by 3-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and 5-alpha-reductase. Techniques routinely employed for these studies include tissue culture, gene expression analysis with qPCR, Western blot, chromatin immunoprecipitation, cell growth assays, mouse xenograft models and thin layer chromatography.

Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:

Bryan Jiang - summer 2009