Research:

Our research involves the mechanisms of cell-cycle regulation by cdk-2-associated molecules and application to gene therapy modalities for prostate and head and neck cancer. More specifically, studies have focused in examining the biology of cdk-2-associated cell cycle inhibitors p27 and p12 in vivo and in vitro using adenoviral (Ad-TSTA) and lentiviral (tet-regulated) expression systems. Also, models have been developed and are being characterized ot examine the biology of p27 and p12 on stromal-epithelial interactions, growth arrest, and apoptosis in vivo. Finally, we achieved creation of a flexible (tet-regulated) transgenic mouse model for examining the role of epigenetic changes on cell cycle regulation and prostate cancer progression.

Recent Publications:

Sato M, Figueiredo ML, Burton JB, Johnson M, Chen M, Powell R, Gambhir SS, Carey M, Wu L. 2008. Configurations of a two-tiered amplified gene expression system in adenoviral vectors designed to improve the specificity of in vivo prostate cancer imaging. Gene Therapy 15(8):583-93.

Figueiredo ML, Kao C, Wu L. 2007. Advances in preclinical investigation of prostate cancer gene therapy. Molecular Therapy 15:1053-1064.

Figueiredo ML, Sato M, Johnson M, Wu L. 2006. Specific targeting of gene therapy to prostate cancer using a two-step transcriptional amplification system. Future Oncology 2: 391-406.

Figueiredo ML, Dayan S, Kim Y, McBride J, Kupper TS, Wong DT. 2006. Expression of cell-cycle regulator CDK2-associating protein 1 (p12CDK2AP1) in transgenic mice induces testicular and ovarian atrophy in vivo. Molecular Reproduction and Development 73:987-997.

Figueiredo ML, Kim Y, St John MA, Wong DT. 2005. p12CDK2-AP1 gene therapy strategy inhibits tumor growth in an in vivo mouse model of head and neck cancer. Clinical Cancer Research 11:3939-3948.