{"id":13236,"date":"2020-03-24T12:00:08","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T16:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/biochem\/?p=13236"},"modified":"2020-05-06T15:42:54","modified_gmt":"2020-05-06T19:42:54","slug":"breast-cancer-alliance-awards-liu-2020-young-investigator-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/biochem\/news\/breast-cancer-alliance-awards-liu-2020-young-investigator-grant\/","title":{"rendered":"Breast Cancer Alliance awards Liu 2020 Young Investigator grant"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Breast Cancer Alliance has awarded UNC Lineberger\u2019s\u00a0Pengda Liu, PhD<\/a>, a 2020 Young Investigator Grant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n

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The\u00a0two-year award of $125,000<\/a>\u00a0will support work in the\u00a0Liu laboratory<\/a>\u00a0to systematically investigate a specific therapeutic target in basal-like breast cancer, an aggressive breast cancer type.<\/p>\n

Many basal-like breast cancers are also often categorized as \u201ctriple negative,\u201d a classification for breast cancer based on the characteristic of a lack of expression of any of the cell-surface receptors for targeted biologic therapies.<\/p>\n

Liu will study the therapeutic potential of targeting a specific enzyme called deubiquitinase OTUD6B. Deubiquitinases are enzymes that help prevent proteins from being modified by ubiquitination.<\/p>\n

\"photo
Pengda Liu, PhD, Assistant Professor<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They do this by removing so called \u201cubiquitin chains\u201d from proteins, Liu said. These ubiquitin chains determine a proteins\u2019 fate, Liu said. Usually, once a protein has been marked with an ubiquitin chain, the protein will be either targeted for degradation, or will perform other biological functions.<\/p>\n

Along with researchers from the laboratory of UNC Lineberger\u2019s\u00a0Charles M. Perou, PhD<\/a>, the May Goldman Shaw Distinguished Professor of Molecular Oncology, Liu\u2019s laboratory found that the deubiquitinase OTUD6B enzyme is overexpressed in basal-like breast cancer. They confirmed that this enzyme plays an \u201cessential\u201d role in maintaining basal-like breast cancer cell growth, and suggesting that this enzyme could be a drug target for this cancer type.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis award will enable my lab to further dissect the molecular mechanisms governed by OTUD6B in maintaining basal-like breast cancer proliferation, as well as perform more in-depth functional studies to validate a critical and indispensable pathophysiological function for OTUD6B that can be targeted to treat this type of breast cancer,\u201d said Liu, who is a UNC Lineberger member and assistant professor in the UNC School of Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics.<\/p>\n

Liu\u2019s lab focuses on focuses on deciphering signaling events that drive cancer development, with the goal of developing new biomarkers for patient selection and identifying drug targets and potential therapeutics.<\/p>\n

The grant is meant for researchers at an early stage in their careers to help provide seed funding needed to complete proof-of-concept evidence needed in order to apply for larger, longer-term grants. The alliance\u2019s funding is meant to provide a critical bridge between novel research and the opportunity to generate preliminary results.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Liu\u2019s lab focuses on focuses on deciphering signaling events that drive cancer development, with the goal of developing new biomarkers for patient selection and identifying drug targets and potential therapeutics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86415,"featured_media":4858,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[10,298,259],"class_list":["post-13236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-news_faculty","tag-news_2020","tag-pengda-liu-lab","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBreast Cancer Alliance awards Liu 2020 Young Investigator grant | Biochemistry and Biophysics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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