Research Horizons, July 09 - Unlike many cancer biology researchers who investigate general processes underlying many cancers, John McDonald focuses his investigations broadly on one type of cancer - ovarian.

Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological cancer, with the American Cancer Society predicting that in the United States alone each year, more than 20,000 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer and 16,000 will die from it.

"Ovarian cancer is called the silent killer because by the time symptoms arise and it's detected, it has typically spread throughout the body," says McDonald, chief scientist of the Ovarian Cancer Institute and associate dean for biology development in the School of Biology. "Our laboratory takes an integrated approach to studying ovarian cancer by investigating its causes, establishing accurate and reliable diagnostic tests, and developing novel and effective therapies."

One focus of McDonald's research is to determine how cancer cells develop in the ovaries. While it is estimated that up to 90 percent of ovarian carcinomas are derived from ovarian surface epithelial cells â€" cells that create the thin layer of tissue that covers the ovaries â€" the behavior of these cells differs from other epithelial-derived carcinomas because they become more specialized as malignancy progresses.

To investigate this behavior in more detail, McDonald and Nathan Bowen, a research scientist and Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Cancer Scholar, compared the gene expression profiles of ovarian surface epithelial cells isolated from the surface of healthy ovaries with those of malignant ovarian tumors collected by the Ovarian Cancer Institute.

The results showed that more than 2,000 genes were expressed at significantly different levels in the two sample types. Genes associated with adult stem cell maintenance were expressed at a much higher level in the cells isolated from healthy ovaries.

"We found that changes in the expression of genes involved in maintaining the inertness and stem cell nature of epithelial surface ovarian cells may be instrumental in the initiation and development of ovarian cancer," explains McDonald.

The results also showed that the surface of the ovary exhibits the characteristics of an adult stem cell niche, which is a protected environment where stem cells remain inactive until a signal triggers their cell cycle and they differentiate.
Expanding on these results, McDonald, Bowen and postdoctoral fellows Roman Mezencev and Lijuan Wang are currently examining the sensitivity of ovarian cancer stem cells and differentiated cancer cells to existing chemotherapy agents.

"The preliminary results indicate that existing chemotherapy agents may effectively kill cancer cells but not touch these cancer stem cells, which could be why ovarian tumors and other cancers frequently recur," adds McDonald.

This work was supported by the Ovarian Cancer Institute, Georgia Cancer Coalition, Golfers Against Cancer Foundation, Ovarian Cycle Foundation, Robinson Family Foundation and Deborah Nash Harris Foundation.

By Abby Vogel
Photo By Gary Meek

PhD student Shandra Justicia has been selected to receive the prestigious American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Robert D. Watkins Graduate Fellowship. ASM's Robert D. Watkins Graduate Fellowship program is highly competitive, and is designed to increase the number of doctoral degrees awarded to members of underrepresented groups. The Robert D. Watkins Graduate Fellowship provides students with a stipend for three years, as well as travel to and accommodations at the annual ASM General Meetings and a visit to the ASM Kadner Institute one time during the three-year tenure of the fellowship.

Shandra Justicia received a dual degree in Industrial Biotechnology and Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. Justicia entered the School of Biology's graduate program in Fall 2007, and is in the laboratory of Dr. Frank Löffler. Her research focuses on microorganisms that can be used in bioremediation, with a particular focus on microbes that can detoxify chlorinated methanes. These compounds have been widely used as solvents and reagents, and are widespread groundwater contaminants, posing risks to human and ecosystem health.

PhD student Shandra Justicia has been selected to receive the prestigious American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Robert D. Watkins Graduate Fellowship. ASM's Robert D. Watkins Graduate Fellowship program is highly competitive, and is designed to increase the number of doctoral degrees awarded to members of underrepresented groups. The Robert D. Watkins Graduate Fellowship provides students with a stipend for three years, as well as travel to and accommodations at the annual ASM General Meetings and a visit to the ASM Kadner Institute one time during the three-year tenure of the fellowship.

Shandra Justicia received a dual degree in Industrial Biotechnology and Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. Justicia entered the School of Biology's graduate program in Fall 2007, and is in the laboratory of Dr. Frank Löffler. Her research focuses on microorganisms that can be used in bioremediation, with a particular focus on microbes that can detoxify chlorinated methanes. These compounds have been widely used as solvents and reagents, and are widespread groundwater contaminants, posing risks to human and ecosystem health.

Social insects, such as ants, bees, wasps, and termites, form cooperative societies and display the most advanced levels of social behavior. Insect societies dominate terrestrial ecosystems because they consist of distinct queen and worker castes. Queens and workers engage in different types of behaviors, which allow the society to function harmoniously and efficiently.

Navin Elango, Brendan Hunt, Michael Goodisman, and Soojin Yi of the School of Biology have made progress into understanding the genetic basis of the caste system in the social honeybee Apis mellifera. In work published in the July 7th issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Elango et al. discovered that honeybee genes affecting caste development show specific modifications, called 'DNA methylation'. This indicates that caste formation may be controlled by simple molecular mechanisms. This research provides insights into the molecular basis underlying social behavior and helps explain how genomes evolve.

Social insects, such as ants, bees, wasps, and termites, form cooperative societies and display the most advanced levels of social behavior. Insect societies dominate terrestrial ecosystems because they consist of distinct queen and worker castes. Queens and workers engage in different types of behaviors, which allow the society to function harmoniously and efficiently.

Navin Elango, Brendan Hunt, Michael Goodisman, and Soojin Yi of the School of Biology have made progress into understanding the genetic basis of the caste system in the social honeybee Apis mellifera. In work published in the July 7th issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Elango et al. discovered that honeybee genes affecting caste development show specific modifications, called 'DNA methylation'. This indicates that caste formation may be controlled by simple molecular mechanisms. This research provides insights into the molecular basis underlying social behavior and helps explain how genomes evolve.

Brian Hammer, assistant professor in the School of Biology at Georgia Tech received a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study a cell-to-cell communication system that allows bacteria to "talk" to each other. Bacteria use this process, called quorum sensing, to synchronize their behavior and act like multicellular organisms. The Hammer lab is studying the role of quorum sensing in the environmental lifestyle of the aquatic microbe, Vibrio cholerae, which causes the fatal disease cholera. The grant also includes resources for a K-12 outreach program with undergraduate participation that was developed by Dr. Hammer to introduce concepts about bacteria and marine ecology to local elementary school students and teachers.

The School of Biology is hosting its 1st Annual Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics Symposium in the Klaus Building at Georgia Institute of Technology on July 24th, 2009. The event is organized by Inga Schmidt-Krey (School of Biology) and Raquel Lieberman (School of Chemistry and Biochemistry) to bring together biophysicists from five different schools in both the College of Science and the College of Engineering: Applied Physiology, Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Physics, and Biomedical Engineering.

The symposium will be held in the Klaus Building 1116 E & W from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM. For a complete schedule click HERE.

The symposium is kindly supported by JEOL, Bio-Rad, and Eurofins.

Brian Hammer, assistant professor in the School of Biology at Georgia Tech received a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study a cell-to-cell communication system that allows bacteria to "talk" to each other. Bacteria use this process, called quorum sensing, to synchronize their behavior and act like multicellular organisms. The Hammer lab is studying the role of quorum sensing in the environmental lifestyle of the aquatic microbe, Vibrio cholerae, which causes the fatal disease cholera. The grant also includes resources for a K-12 outreach program with undergraduate participation that was developed by Dr. Hammer to introduce concepts about bacteria and marine ecology to local elementary school students and teachers.

The School of Biology is hosting its 1st Annual Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics Symposium in the Klaus Building at Georgia Institute of Technology on July 24th, 2009. The event is organized by Inga Schmidt-Krey (School of Biology) and Raquel Lieberman (School of Chemistry and Biochemistry) to bring together biophysicists from five different schools in both the College of Science and the College of Engineering: Applied Physiology, Biology, Chemistry and Biochemistry, Physics, and Biomedical Engineering.

The symposium will be held in the Klaus Building 1116 E & W from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM. For a complete schedule click HERE.

The symposium is kindly supported by JEOL, Bio-Rad, and Eurofins.

Fin Channel.com, May 6 - Georgia State University was recently awarded a nearly $900,000 grant from the NSF to increase the number of science teachers in metro Atlanta schools. The grant, titled "Impacting Metro-Atlanta Science Teaching," or I-MAST, will be used to recruit, prepare and support 36 high quality science educators over the next five years... "The partnership between GSU and Georgia Tech is a great way to bring bright young scientists into the classroom," said Jennifer Leavey, director of Undergraduate Academic Services in the Georgia Tech School of Biology. "Tech is a nationally-ranked leader in undergraduate science education, but has no route for certifying K-12 teachers. GSU has an excellent College of Education and is only a few blocks away." (full story)