Meet a cancer researcher: Hongbo Pang

by on May 4, 2012 at 6:43 am | 0 Comments
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Hongbo Pang, Ph.D.

Hongbo Pang, Ph.D.

On June 5, 2012, California voters will have an opportunity to consider Proposition 29, also known as the California Cancer Research Act. Prop 29’s goal is to provide funding for cancer research by increasing the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1. Sanford-Burnham’s Board of Trustees endorsed Prop 29 in September 2011. The University of California Regents has also voted to support it, along with the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, American Heart Association, Stand Up To Cancer, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (Livestrong).

We are presenting a series of blog posts to allow you to meet some of our cancer researchers and gain a better understanding of how the projected $735 million generated annually by the passing of Prop 29 would benefit cancer research in California.

Meet Hongbo Pang, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Erkki Ruoslahti, M.D., Ph.D.

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Meet a cancer researcher: Aman Mann

by on April 6, 2012 at 6:50 am | 1 comment
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Aman Mann_archive

On June 5, 2012, California voters will have an opportunity to consider Proposition 29, also known as the California Cancer Research Act. Prop 29’s goal is to provide funding for cancer research by increasing the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1. Sanford-Burnham’s Board of Trustees endorsed Prop 29 in September 2011. The University of California Regents has also voted to support it, along with the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, American Heart Association, Stand Up To Cancer, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation (Livestrong).

We are presenting a series of blog posts to allow you to meet some of our cancer researchers and gain a better understanding of how the projected $735 million generated annually by the passing of Prop 29 would benefit cancer research in California.

Meet Aman Mann, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in Sanford-Burnham’s NCI-designated Cancer Center.

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3D look at protein family with a long Sanford-Burnham history

by on January 30, 2012 at 5:36 pm | 0 Comments
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Atomic model of the NSP-p130Cas complex

Atomic model of the NSP-p130Cas complex

Sanford-Burnham has a long history with proteins of the so-called Cas family, particularly one member called p130Cas. For more than a decade, some of our top researchers, including Kristiina Vuori, M.D., Ph.D., Erkki Ruoslahti, M.D., Ph.D., and Elena Pasquale, Ph.D., have studied the biology of these proteins and the role they play in cancer. And they made several groundbreaking findings.

One of these was the co-discovery of a family of novel cell-regulating proteins that interact with Cas proteins, called the NSP family. When Cas and NSP proteins get together, they help a cell migrate or invade surrounding tissues—processes that can be either beneficial, as when immune cells mature, or harmful, as when a cancer cell metastasizes. Furthermore, one particular pair of Cas and NSP proteins were found to cause breast cancer cells to become resistant to anti-estrogen drugs such as tamoxifen, one of the major challenges in fighting this devastating disease.

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Nanoparticles seek and destroy glioblastoma in mice

by on October 3, 2011 at 12:00 pm | 0 Comments
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Erkki Ruoslahti, M.D., Ph.D., distinguished professor in both Sanford-Burnham’s NCI-designated Cancer Center in La Jolla and the Center for Nanomedicine, a Sanford-Burnham collaboration with the University of California, Santa Barbara

Erkki Ruoslahti, M.D., Ph.D., distinguished professor in both Sanford-Burnham’s NCI-designated Cancer Center in La Jolla and the Center for Nanomedicine, a Sanford-Burnham collaboration with the University of California, Santa Barbara

Glioblastoma is one of the most aggressive forms of brain cancer. Rather than presenting as a well-defined tumor, glioblastoma will often infiltrate the surrounding brain tissue, making it extremely difficult to treat surgically or with chemotherapy or radiation. Likewise, several mouse models of glioblastoma have proven completely resistant to all treatment attempts.

To overcome this hurdle, Sanford-Burnham scientists and their collaborators at the Salk Institute developed a method to combine a tumor-homing peptide, a cell-killing peptide, and a nanoparticle that both enhances tumor cell death and allows the researchers to image the tumors. When used to treat mice with glioblastoma, this new nanosystem eradicates most tumors in one model and significantly delays tumor development in another. These findings were published the week of October 3 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.

“This is a unique nanosystem for two reasons. First, linking the cell-killing peptide to nanoparticles made it possible for us to deliver it specifically to tumors, virtually eliminating the killer peptide’s toxicity to normal tissues. Second, ordinarily researchers and clinicians are happy if they are able to deliver more drugs to a tumor than to normal tissues. We not only accomplished that, but were able to design our nanoparticles to deliver the killer peptide right where it acts—the mitochondria, the cell’s energy-generating center,” says Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti, senior author of the study and distinguished professor in both Sanford-Burnham’s NCI-designated Cancer Center in La Jolla and the Center for Nanomedicine, a Sanford-Burnham collaboration with the University of California, Santa Barbara.

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Congratulations to the 2011 Fishman Fund Award winners

by on September 9, 2011 at 5:23 pm | 0 Comments
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L to R: Armi Williams (accepting on behalf of Roberto Tinoco), Gregory Aubért, Martina Pröll, Aman Mann, and Malene Hansen (accepting on behalf of Caroline Kumsta)

L to R: Armi Williams (accepting on behalf of Roberto Tinoco), Gregory Aubért, Martina Pröll, Aman Mann, and Malene Hansen (accepting on behalf of Caroline Kumsta)

Sanford-Burnham’s founders, William and Lillian Fishman, appreciated the important impact that postdoctoral fellows have on medical research and created a tradition of fostering the development of young scientists. The Fishman Fund Award was established in 2001 by Mary Bradley and Reena Horowitz to honor that tradition. Each year, five individual awards of $6,000 each are given to select postdocs for career development. This year’s award was presented on September 8. Read about each of the winners, their research, and their career goals below.

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The San Diego Foundation supports science

by on July 20, 2011 at 1:45 pm | 1 comment
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iRGD peptides can specifically target cancer drugs (red) to the blood vessels that feed tumors (green). (Image courtesy of Dr. Kazuki Sugahara)iRGD peptides can specifically target cancer drugs (red) to the blood vessels that feed tumors (green). (Image courtesy of Dr. Kazuki Sugahara)

iRGD peptides can specifically target cancer drugs (red) to the blood vessels that feed tumors (green). (Image courtesy of Kazuki

At a time when scientists are having increasing difficulty acquiring financial support from federal sources, alternative sources of funding are becoming more important for maintaining the momentum of critical research at universities, research institutes and even industrial laboratories. At Sanford-Burnham, research assistant professor Dr. Kazuki N. Sugahara was recently awarded a one-year, $75,000 grant from The San Diego Foundation, via the The Blasker-Rose-Miah Fund. This marks one of the few times that a Sanford-Burnham investigator has received funding from this source, underscoring the novelty and importance of the project. This key piece of local funding will allow Dr. Sugahara to continue his research on the use of tissue-penetrating peptides that can detect developing tumors and enhance the delivery of cancer therapeutic drugs.

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Flash mob against cancer

by on June 29, 2011 at 9:51 am | 0 Comments
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Signaling nanoparticles (blue) can locate a tumor, then set off a chemical reaction that attracts a mob of drug-delivering nanoparticles (pink) to the site. (Image by Gary Carlson)

Signaling nanoparticles (blue) draw in a mob of receiving nanoparticles (pink) to target tumors. (Image by Peter Allen, UCSB)

Researchers have been working for decades to develop nanoparticles that deliver cancer drugs directly to tumors, minimizing the toxic side effects of chemotherapy. However, even with the best nanoparticles, only small amounts of the treatment actually reach the tumor. Scientists at MIT, Sanford-Burnham’s Center for Nanomedicine at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) may have found a way to attract treatment-laden nanoparticles to tumors. Think of it as a therapeutic flash mob.

The team designed a delivery system in which nanoparticles home in on a tumor and then call in a much larger second wave of nanoparticles to dispense an anti-cancer drug. This communication between nanoparticles, enabled by the body’s own biochemistry, boosts drug delivery to tumors more than 40-fold in mouse models. The study, which was led by MIT’s Dr. Sangeeta Bhatia and received significant contributions from Sanford-Burnham’s Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti and UCSD’s Dr. Michael Sailor, was recently published online in the journal Nature Materials.

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Targeting Arterial Plaque

by on April 19, 2011 at 4:00 am | 1 comment
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Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti

Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti

Atherosclerotic plaque is the fatty material that builds up on arterial walls, where it can lead to heart disease and stroke. Atherosclerosis is currently treated with dietary changes, angioplasty (which uses a balloon to move the plaque aside) or more invasive procedures. Using drugs to break up these fatty plaques would be an enticing alternative, but delivery poses a problem. How do we precisely target the therapeutic agent to the diseased areas, leaving healthy tissues unaffected?

Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti and colleagues at Sanford-Burnham and UC Santa Barbara may have found a solution. For many years, Dr. Ruoslahti has been using specially designed peptides (pieces of proteins) to target cancer and other diseases. In a paper published online on April 11 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the Ruoslahti lab reports the discovery of a new peptide that can guide drugs or imaging agents specifically to atherosclerotic plaques.

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Measuring Nanoparticles

by on March 14, 2011 at 1:11 pm | 2 Comments
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One of the problems with nanoparticles is that, well, they’re just so small, making them difficult to study. Researchers may have solved that problem by building an instrument that can detect nanoparticles as small as tens of nanometers (billionths of a meter). The research team was led by Dr. Andrew Cleland, professor of physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and included Sanford-Burnham’s Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti. The study was published on March 7 in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

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Firing on all cylinders

by on January 21, 2011 at 11:25 am | 0 Comments
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January is a good time to reflect on the previous year and plan for the new one. Recently, Sanford-Burnham CEO Dr. John Reed delivered his annual State of the Institute address at both our Orlando and San Diego campuses.

As Dr. Reed noted, 2010 was quite a productive year. On January 26, we announced T. Denny Sanford’s$50 million gift and our new name: Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. In addition to Mr. Sanford’s gift, significant contributions were made by Pauline Foster, Arthur Brody and Gary and Jeanne Herberger. Also, the Sanford-Burnham Gala had a record year.

Dr. Reed welcomed new faculty, including Drs. Carl Ware, Robert Wechsler-Reya, Sheila Collins Fraydoon Rastinejad, Sepideh Khorasanizadeh, Xianlin Han, Salvatore Albani, and Alessandra Sacco. He also noted that, despite stagnant research funding, Sanford-Burnham had an excellent year bringing in grant funding to advance important research.

“According to government data, last year, our main source for support, the NIH, funded fewer grants than it has for any year in the last nine years,” said Dr. Reed. “When adjusted for inflation, and excluding the one-time stimulus funding, NIH budgets have been in net decline. Despite those challenging circumstances, last year we posted a nine percent increase in grant revenue institute-wide, surpassing the $100 million mark for the first time.”

But of course, the highlight was the research. Sanford-Burnham scientists helped produce more than 300 peer-reviewed papers last year. That’s a lot of ground to cover,  so Dr. Reed could only give a few highlights:

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New Insights into Scar Prevention

by on November 29, 2010 at 8:53 am | 2 Comments
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Bike accidents, C-sections and battlefield wounds can all leave scars. But those are only the scars you can see. Any tissue can scar (not just skin), making scar tissue more than a cosmetic problem. Heart muscle, for example, can scar after a heart attack, and the lungs, kidneys, the liver, and many other tissues can be damaged by inflammation. Current options for reducing scar formation require local intervention at the scarring site – plastic surgery, for example. But what if there was a pill you could take after an injury to prevent scar tissue from forming in the first place?At Sanford-Burnham’s Center for Nanomedicine at UC Santa Barbara, Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti and his team have developed a new prototype therapy that inhibits scarring in mice. The compound contains two elements discovered by the Ruoslahti laboratory. One is a peptide that homes in on new blood vessels that form during wound healing. The other is a naturally occurring protein called decorin, which they previously showed prevents the buildup of fibrous connective tissue that causes scarring. The combination of the peptide and protein turns out to be particularly powerful.

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Congresswoman ‘Inspired’ by Center for Nanomedicine

by on September 2, 2010 at 3:07 pm | 1 comment
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Earlier this week, U.S. Congresswoman Lois Capps spent an afternoon touring the Center for Nanomedicine, Sanford-Burnham’s joint venture with the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).

As Santa Barbara’s Daily Sound reports:

When asked why she came to see the center, Capps answered simply, “to be inspired.”

The Center for Nanomedicine, home to the laboratories of Sanford-Burnham’s Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti and Dr. Jamey Marth, focuses on the convergence of biology, nanotechnology and engineering, promising a new generation of solutions that address unmet needs in medicine and human health.

Read more about the Center and Rep. Capps’ visit in the Daily Sound.

Targeting prostate tumors with nanoworms

by on July 6, 2010 at 4:29 pm | 6 Comments
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One way to inhibit a tumor’s growth is to choke off its blood supply. The trick is to create a clot that specifically blocks flow to the tumor without harming other parts of the body. To accomplish this, a research team led by Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti, distinguished professor and founding member of the U.C. Santa Barbara – Sanford-Burnham Center for Nanomedicine, coated nanoparticles with two different homing signals that specifically direct them to proteins on tumor blood vessels. One signal was generated by a string of just five amino acids(the molecular subunits that make up a protein), while the other consisted of six amino acids. These two types of targeted nanoparticles worked cooperatively to induce blood clots, and an elongated version of these particles, called “nanoworms,” did an even better job of it. As the nanoworms induced clotting, more and more binding sites appeared, attracting more nanoworms and further enhancing the blockage.

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Influenza and nanomachines

by on June 25, 2010 at 2:30 pm | 2 Comments
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Drs. Sumit Chanda and Erkki Ruoslahti have received write-ups at two very distinct sites. Dr. Chanda’s flu research, which was published in February in Nature, was recently highlighted by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, one of the National Institutes of Health. The work, a collaboration with Mount Sinai , Salk and GNF, identified 295 human proteins and other molecules  that influenza A strains must harness to infect a cell.  As the article points out,  the flu virus contains only 11 proteinsand must rely on our own cellular machinery to keep going. In many ways, these host factors may be better targets for treatment.

Current flu drugs are aimed directly at the influenza virus. But the flu virus mutates readily and these frequent changes allow it to gain resistance to antiviral drugs. However, if a drug were to be targeted to factor in the human host instead of being aimed directly at the virus, the pathogen’s ability to escape through mutation would be thwarted.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ruoslahti, who cofounded the Sanford-Burnham, UC Santa Barbara Center for Nanomedicine, was quoted in an article about robots at CNBC. Dr. Ruoslahti has been working with engineers at UC Santa Barbara to create nanorobots to home in on diseased cells.

“At this point, we can increase the activity of any anticancer drug by three fold or better,” he says. “We get more drug to the tumor and that makes a huge difference. If you can increase its concentration, the side effects remain the same, but the effectiveness is higher.”

Embracing Nanomedicine, Part 3

by on June 17, 2010 at 2:23 pm | 0 Comments
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One of the main reasons Drs. Erkki Ruoslahti and Jamey Marth set up labs at UC Santa Barbara was to take advantage of the university’s world-class expertise in engineering.“Because of my knowledge of homing peptides, engineers began approaching me about using this technology to help target nanoparticles,” says Dr. Ruoslahti. “I realized that molecular biology and chemistry have made great contributions to medicine, but we needed to do more. It was time to also focus on physics.”

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