BIRCWH - Scholar, Rolf Joseph Craven, PhD

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

My research objectives are to identify genes that contribute to breast cancer progression, then use these genes as markers to predict disease outcome and as therapeutic targets. I am pursuing these objectives through two projects. First, I am analyzing a series of protein kinases that I identified in breast cancer. Protein kinases regulate cellular growth and survival, and we have found several protein kinases that are up-regulated in breast cancer. We are examining the levels of these protein kinases in tumor samples and comparing protein levels with clinical parameters such as survival. We are then attempting to turn the proteins off as an attempt to reverse the course of the disease. As a second project, I have identified a gene that regulates genetic stability. This gene is closely related to a cell surface receptor for the hormone progesterone. We are presently examining the regulation of this progesterone-binding protein in breast cancer. The goal of this project is to understand novel mechanisms through which hormonal signaling might regulate genomic stability, a crucial factor in breast cancer progression.

BIRCWH MENTOR:

William G. Cance, M.D.
Division Chief, Surgical Oncology
UNC, Department of Surgery
3010 Old clinic Building, CB#7210
Chapel Hill, NC
(919) 966-5221

EDUCATION:

Bachelor of Science:	Clemson University Clemson, SC Biological Science	1981-1985
Master of Science:	University of Illinois at Chicago Health Sciences Center Chicago, IL	1985-1987
Doctor of Philosophy:	University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC	1993-1996
Post-doctoral Fellowship:	University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC	1996-2000

CURRENT PUBLICATIONS:

Last Updated: 10/14/02
Craven RJ, Greenwell P and Petes TD. "Control of genetic stability by the Saccharomyces cerevisiae kinases Mec1p and Te11p." Manuscript submitted. Craven RJ and Petes TD. "The Saccharomyces cervisiae Suppressor of Choline Sensitivity (SCS2) gene is a multicopy suppressor of mec1 telomeric silencing defects." Genetics, 158:145-154 (2001). Craven RJ and Petes TD. "Involvement of the checkpoint protein Mec1p in silencing of gene expression at telomeres in Saccharomyces cervisiae." Molecular and Cellular Biology, 20:2378-2384(2000). Xu, LH, Yang X, Bradham CA, Brenner DA, Baldwin AS, Craven RJ, and Cance WG. "The focal adhesion kinase suppresses transformation-associated, anchorage-independent apoptosis in human breast cancer cells." J Biol Chem, 275:30597-30604 (2000) Craven RJ and Petes TD. "Dependence of the regulation of telomere length on the type of sub-telomeric repeat in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae." Genetics, 152:1531-1541 (1999). Xu LH, Yang X, Craven RJ and Cance WG. "The COOH-terminal domain of the focal adhesion kinase induces loss of adhesion and cell death in human tumor cells." Cell Growth & Differentiation, 7:413-418 (1996). Craven RJ, Cance WG and Liu ET. "The nuclear tyrosine kinase Rak associates with the product of the Tetinoblastoma tumor susceptibility gene, pRb." Cancer Research, 55:3969-3972 (1995). Craven RJ, Xu L, Weiner TM, Fridell YW, Dent GA, Srivastava S, Varnum B, Liu ET and Cance WG. "Receptor tyrosine kinases expressed in metastatic colon cancer." Int Journal of Cancer, 60:791-797 (1995). Owens LV, Xu L, Craven RJ, Dent GA, Weiner TM, Kornberg L, Liu ET and Cance WG. "Overexpression of the focal adhesion kinase (p125FAK) in invasive human tumors." Cancer Res., 55:2752-2755 (1995). Cance WG, Craven RJ, Bergman M, Xu L, Alitalo K and Liu ET. "Rak, a novel nuclear tyrosine kinase expressed in epithelial cells." Cell Growth and Differentiation, 5:1347-1355 (1994). Craven RJ and Cance WG. "Protein tyrosine kinases in the early detection of colorectal cancer. In ‘Early Detection of Cancer: Molecular Markers’ Eds. Srivastava S, Lippman SM, Hong WK and Mulshine JL." Armonk: Futura Publishing Co., Inc.(/i> (1994). Levedakou EN, He M, Baptist EW, Craven RJ, Cance WG, Welcsh PL, Simmons A, Naylor SL, Leach RJ, Lewis TB, Bowcock A and Liu ET. "Two novel human serine/threonine kinasis with homologies to the cell cycle regulatin Xenopus MO15, and NimA kinasis: cloning and characterization of their expression pattern." Oncogene, 9: 1977-1988 (1994). Weiner TM, Liu ET, Craven RJ and Cance WG. "Expression of growth factor receptors, the focal adhesion kinase, and other tyrosine kinases in human soft tissue tumors." Annals of Surg. Onc., 1:18-27 (1994). Weiner TM, Liu ET, Craven RJ and Cance WG. "Expression of focal adhesion kinase gene and invasive cancer." Lancet, 342:1024-1025 (1993). Cance WG, Craven RJ, Weiner TM and Liu ET. "Novel protein kinases expressed in human breast cancer." Int. Journal of Cancer, 54:571-577 (1993). Cance WG, Craven RJ and Liu ET. "Expression polymerase chain reaction: a sensitive method for analysis of gene expression in human tumors." Surgical Oncology, 1:309-314 (1992).