Research

Signaling pathways and therapeutic targets in cancer and HIV latency

Our laboratory has a long-standing interest in signaling pathways regulating gene expression, particularly focusing on the NF-κB signaling pathway and its role in infection, inflammation, cancer and chemoresistance. NF-κB transcription factors play fundamental roles in immune, inflammatory and stress responses. Constitutive NF-kB/Rel protein activity is also a hallmark of many cancers, where it is implicated in cell proliferation and survival, epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition (EMT), invasion, angiogenesis, metastasis, genetic and epigenetic alterations, cancer stem cell formation, as well as cellular metabolism and resistance to therapy. Our studies have provided key insights into its function and regulation, its role in oncogenesis, apoptosis and chemoresistance, as well as in invasion and metastasis. Our most recent work, focusing on protein regulation by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS), has yielded novel insights into potential new avenues to target cancer chemoresistance and metastasis, as well as to target pathways important for HIV-1 latency, with the ultimate goal to help toward the development of new therapies.