There is an opportunity for research in the laboratory of Dr. Jieya Shao. The central theme of the lab is unravelling novel cancer biology with the overarching goal of developing effective therapies. Two main projects are currently ongoing primarily in the context of breast cancer:

1. “Moonlighting” functions of the actin-binding protein profilin-1 (Pfn1) in transcriptional and epigenetic regulation. As an essential eukaryotic protein, the mechanisms behind the paradoxical anticancer effects of profilin-1 have remained mysterious for nearly two decades. Our recent studies suggest that the anticancer activities of Pfn1 may stem from its poorly understood nuclear functions which become deregulated in cancer due to an alteration of its nucleocytoplasmic trafficking. We are currently focusing on defining its novel roles in transcriptional control and epigenetic regulation in the context of both estrogen receptor positive and triple negative breast cancer by utilizing multidisciplinary approaches including biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology, proteomics, mouse xenograft models, and next generation sequencing.
2. The role of VCP in protein homeostasis, DNA damage response, and chemotherapy efficacy of cancer. Valosin-containing protein (VCP) is an evolutionarily conserved and highly abundant AAA+ ATPase involved in diverse cellular processes. Functioning as a “segregase”, VCP maintains protein homeostasis by extracting polyubiquitinated proteins from various cellular locations or complexes for turnover. Numerous studies have now linked VCP to chromatin-associated protein degradation and genome stability maintenance particularly in the context of DNA damage response. Nevertheless, detailed understanding of its mechanism of action, its mode of (de)regulation in cancer, and its relevance to chemotherapy response is lacking, and we are currently investigating all these questions.