Education

B.S., Chemistry, Alcorn State University, Lorman, MS, 2001
Ph.D., Biochemistry, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, 2006
FIRST Postdoctoral Fellow, Winship Cancer Institute, Department of Hematology and Oncology, 2007 - 2009

Research Statement

STYK1 is a putative serine-threonine and tyrosine receptor protein kinase belonging to the fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) family. Overexpression of STYK1 transforms normal cells into malignant tumors in nude mice. Inactivation of a tyrosine residue in the catalytic STYK1 domain attenuates the tumorigenic potential of BaF3-E/N tumor cells in vivo. Collectively, these data strongly implicate an oncogenic role for STYK1 in cancer although the mechanism for STYK1 regulation remains to be established. We have recently shown that estradiol induces STYK1 expression in breast cancer cells. To date, the role of STYK1 expression in ovarian cancer has not been determined. To investigate this issue, a panel of 36 ovarian cancer tissues and 12 cases of normal and benign ovarian tumor tissues were evaluated for STYK1 expression by immunohistochemistry. STYK1 reactivity in the epithelium and stroma of the ovarian tissue was semi-quantitatively scored from 0 to 3. All ovarian cancer tissues were positive for STYK1. On the contrary, all tissues negative for STYK1 expression were either normal or benign. 

Identifying the molecular mechanisms that regulate STYK1 expression in ovarian cancer is crucial to the development of more effective anti-cancer treatments. My research will evaluate the transcriptional regulation of STYK1 by estrogen and PPAR alpha agonists/antagonists in ovarian cancer cell lines. In addition, I will demonstrate STYK1 functionality by overexpressing and knocking it down in ovarian cancer cell lines of different malignant potential.

Publications

Tsumagari, K., Qi, L., Jackson, K., Shao, C., Lacey, M., Sowden, J., Tawil, R., Vedanarayanan, V., Ehrlich, M. (2008) Epigenetics of a tandem DNA repeat: chromatin DNaseI sensitivity and opposite methylation changes in cancers. Nucleic Acids Res. 36(7):2196-207.

Ehrlich, M., Jackson, K., Tsumagari, K., Camano, P., Lemmers, R. J. (2007) Hybridization analysis of D4Z4 repeat arrays linked to FSHD. Chromosoma. 6(2):107-16.

Jackson, K., Yu, M.C., Arakawa, K., Fiala, E., Youn, B., Fiegl, H., Muller-Holzner, E., Widschwendter, M., Ehrlich, M. (2004) DNA hypomethylation is prevalent even in low-grade breast cancers. Cancer Biol Ther. 3(12):1225-31.

Georgia State University
Department of Biology
P. O. Box 4010
Atlanta, Georgia 30302-4010
Tel: 404.413.5350
Email: kesmicj1@gsu.edu