University of Houston researchers are on a mission to develop drugs
that will allow physicians to prolong patient survival and, possibly,
even eradicate this deadliest of cancers.
"Our research on the role of liver X receptors, or LXRs, in Pancreatic Cancer
cells points to a promising target and strategy in the treatment of
pancreatic cancer," said cancer biologist Chin-Yo Lin, an assistant
professor with the UH Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling
(CNRCS). "We examined the levels of LXRs in patient tumor samples and
studied the effects of candidate drug compounds targeting LXRs on
cultured pancreatic cancer cells."
Liver X receptors are important regulators of cholesterol, glucose
metabolism and inflammatory response modulation. Collaborating with
CNRCS director Dr. Jan-Åke Gustafsson, a pioneer in the discovery of
LXRs and the Robert A. Welch Professor in Biology and Biochemistry in
the UH College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Lin said there is
now enough evidence to support the involvement of LXRs in a variety of
malignancies.
Lin and his colleagues anticipate their ongoing studies will help
determine whether LXRs are expressed in all tumors or a specific subset
of tumors that might be more sensitive to drugs targeting LXRs. Another
goal is to test the effects of the drugs on Pancreatic tumors
in murine models that are very similar to those found in humans.
Ultimately, they plan to use the knowledge from these studies to develop
better drugs to target LXRs in pancreatic cancer, as well as other
types of malignancies.
The research team has already carried out some preliminary studies of
LXR expression in patient tumor samples and is preparing to analyze
more samples. Recent studies showed that chemical compounds targeting
LXRs can slow the growth of tumors in murine models transplanted with
human tumor cells.
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