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Researcher
seeks to uncover new Cancer Therapies
Newswise — With a four-year, $707,000 grant
from the American Cancer Society, Yanchang
Wang, assistant professor of biomedical
sciences in the Florida State University
College of Medicine, hopes to learn how a
particular enzyme could possibly help put
the brakes on the runaway cell division
process that occurs in many forms of cancer.
Wang’s research involves the role of an
enzyme known as Cdc14 in deactivating the
cell division process set in motion by
another enzyme, Cdk1.
“From this proposed experiment, we expect to
find a new way to regulate cell division,”
Wang said. “Cdk1 is the key driving force
for cell division, so it’s quite important.”
The enzymes Wang is studying are part of the
cellular signaling processes that protect
genes and chromosomes when cells divide,
ensuring that the number of chromosomes in
each new cell is precisely correct.
This process is critical in that an abnormal
number of chromosomes can lead ultimately to
cancer.
Wang conducts his experiments on yeast
because it abides by the same regulatory
processes during cell division as human
cells.
“Yeast is a single cell, but it is really
powerful and it will answer different kinds
of biological questions, especially for the
regulation of cell division,” Wang said.
With the addition of this new grant, Wang
has now attracted more than $1.3 million in
external research funding since arriving at
the Florida State University College of
Medicine in 2003 as one of the first faculty
recruited to the college’s department of
biomedical sciences.
The American Cancer Society grant follows a
$441,000 grant from the James and Esther
King Biomedical Research Program and a
$240,000 grant from the American Heart
Association, with which Wang laid the
groundwork for his newest hypothesis.
Myra Hurt, associate dean for research and
graduate programs, said Wang is one of only
about two dozen Florida researchers to
receive funding from the American Cancer
Society this year.
“At the beginning of the 21st century, in
spite of more than 30 years of the most
intense biomedical research the world has
ever known, cancer remains a major cause of
death in our country,” Hurt said.
“The hope is that Dr. Wang’s research will
uncover new therapeutic targets and
diagnostic tools for cancer treatment and
prevention.”
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