Tumor suppressor p53 plays a key role in tumor suppression. To ensure the proper levels and functions of p53 in tumor suppression, p53 is tightly regulated by different mechanisms in cells. Many tumor-associated mutant p53 proteins not only lose the tumor suppressive function of wild-type p53, but also gain new activities in promoting tumorigenesis, which is defined as mutant p53 gain-of-function (GOF). We have long-standing interest in studying p53 signaling pathway and GOF mutant p53 in cancer. Metabolic reprogramming has been regarded as a hallmark of tumor cells and a key contributor to malignant progression. We are also interested in studying how p53 and GOF mutant p53 and other tumor suppressors regulate metabolism to impact tumorigenesis, and how metabolic changes in cancer can be targeted for therapy. We expect that our studies will reveal important mechanisms of p53 and metabolic reprogramming in cancer and identify novel targets and strategies for cancer therapy.
- Title
- Professor
- fengzh@cinj.rutgers.edu