Allison Jablonski, Ph.D.
Fighting breast cancer
Cell signaling is a method of communication between cells and their external environment, as well as communication between different molecules within a single cell. Changes in cell signaling can result in cell proliferation, cell death, or cell mutation. An excess of cell proliferation is another name for cancer. HER2 (human EGF receptor 2) is involved in many signaling pathways, and is believed to be responsible in part for the rapid cell division seen in some breast tumors. Patients whose tumors express HER2 show a decreased average survival time after diagnosis.
Research continues in my laboratory into the mechanism of breast tumor growth and cellular signaling from HER2. Students in my lab have had success using such techniques as siRNA (small interfering RNA) in an effort to prevent production of HER2, and to determine if this will cause programmed cell death (apoptosis), or if other molecules compensate to allow the tumor cells to continue their growth. In the lab, students learn Western blotting, mammalian cell culture, and fluorescent microscopy.
Another study in my lab is the examination of cell signaling in mammalian cells infected by the bacterium Francisella tularensis, categorized as a biothreat agent. Infection with this agent can cause tularemia ("rabbit fever"). Our studies suggest many changes in kinase enzyme activation in liver cells, resulting in apoptosis and the likely source of liver inflammation in tularemia.
