Disaster - College of Veterinary Medicine - Texas A&M University

Faculty/Staff Focus
Altering the architecture of malignant cells may slow cancer
CCancer may spread throughout the
human body when malignant cells
travel in the blood stream. But it may
be possible to slow or even stop those
cells from spreading by altering their
structure, according to a recent investigation
led by a Texas A&M University
researcher.
The team, lead by Dr. Gonzalo
Rivera, an assistant professor in the
department of veterinary pathobiology
at the Texas A&M University College of
Dr. Gonzalo Rivera
Dr. William J. Murphy, associate professor
in the Department of Veterinary
Integrative Biosciences at the Texas
A&M University College of Veterinary
Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, is
this year’s recipient of the JoAnn Treat
Research Excellence Award.
Established by The Board of Trustees
of the Texas A&M Research Foundation,
the award is open to faculty at any
of The Texas A&M University System
components. It recognizes exceptional
contribution to the faculty member’s
field of research, administered through
the Foundation, during the past five
years. The award is named in honor
of JoAnn Treat, who served 19 years as
president of the Research Foundation
before retiring in August 2003.
The Foundation announced the
award at their annual councilor/
trustee fall meeting held on December
11, 2009. Murphy received a $10,000
award and a commemorative plaque.
He will also have his name recorded on
42 • CVM Today • Summer 2010
Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
(CVM), and including scientists
from The University of Connecticut
Health Center and the University of
California, San Francisco, published
its findings recently in Molecular Cell, a
peer-reviewed scientific journal.
The spread of cancer is one example
of what can happen when things go
awry with the cytoskeleton, a meshwork
created by the assembly of multiple
copies of a cellular protein called actin,
Rivera explained.
The actin cytoskeleton determines
a cell’s shape and its ability to stick to
other cells or to tissue. The cytoskeleton
is constantly being reshaped in
response to external clues sensed by
cells. Through a complex process of
“signal transduction,” cells translate
external clues into specific behaviors.
They may grow rapidly, alter their functions
or may migrate to other parts of
the body.
Cells respond to signals from the
environment in several ways. Among
the most critical are the changes in
lipids called phosphoinositides as well
as in tyrosine phosphorylation, the addition
of a phosphate group to specific
cellular proteins.
the JoAnn Treat commemorative glass
vase displayed in the Research Foundation
lobby.
Murphy’s main research interests
are feline genomics and mammalian
phylogenetics.
“Mapping the feline genome will
facilitate the identification of genes
involved in feline diseases and should
have a major impact on improving feline
health,” he said. “It will also enable
the use of the domestic cat as a model
for human disease.” Murphy’s research
also focuses on mammalian phylogenetics
and conservation genetics.
Murphy received his PhD in biological
sciences in 1997 from Tulsa University.
He completed his postdoctoral
work at the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity
of the National Cancer Institute,
and worked as a senior scientist at NIH
before joining Texas A&M University
in 2004. He has published over seventy
articles in peer-reviewed journals,
including Science and Nature. His lab
“The long-term goal of our research
is to define how signals that alter the
cytoskeletal architecture promote cancer
initiation and progression, as well
as migration of vascular cells,” Rivera
said.
Using a unique combination of
experimental approaches, including
molecular genetics, proteomics, and
high resolution optical microscopy,
Rivera and his co-investigators uncovered
a novel molecular mechanism in
the regulation of N-WASp, a protein
critically involved in rearrangements of
the actin cytoskeleton.
N-WASp is a direct cousin of WASp
(Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome protein), a
protein named after the physicians that
first reported a rare inherited disorder
characterized by low level of blood
platelets, eczema, recurrent infections,
and a high risk of leukemia or lymph
node tumors in boys.
The article, “Reciprocal Interdependence
between Nck and PI(4,5)P2
Promotes Localized N-WASp-Mediated
Actin Polymerization in Living Cells,”
can be found in the Nov. 13, 2009, issue
of Molecular Cell.
Murphy wins JoAnn Treat Research Excellence Award
Dr. William J. Murphy
is funded by the National Science
Foundation, USDA, Morris Animal
Foundation, AKC-Canine Health Foundation,
Winn Feline Foundation, The
Snow Leopard Conservancy, and the
National Geographic Foundation.