University of California-Berkeley Physical Sciences-Oncology Center
University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Center Summary:
University of California-Berkeley Physical Sciences-Oncology Center (UCB PS-OC) will determine how mechanobiology influences tumorigenesis in breast cancer. This center’s primary focus will be on the triple negative subtype of basal breast cancer, which lacks the estrogen, progesterone, and Her2/neu receptors. Patients with this more aggressive, triple negative subtype have fewer treatment options and an overall poor prognosis. These investigators hypothesize that the malignant phenotype is maintained by exchanges with its microenvironment and that reversion can occur if these pressures are normalized. This center will also examine how mechanical signals trigger genetic changes that induce tumorigenesis. Groundbreaking force probes and imaging techniques will gauge the forces within breast cancer model systems. The integration of these state-of-the-art tools in the physical, theoretical and biological sciences will cultivate models of various interactions of the model systems with their microenvironment. Furthermore, cellular plasticity and reversion research will be executed and could lead to potential therapeutics targeted to the cellular microenvironment.
projects
cores
Jan Liphardt, Ph.D.
Jan Liphardt, PhD, is an Associate Prof. of Physics at UC Berkeley and the Deputy Director of the LBNL Physical Biosciences Division. His scientific training is in single-molecule biophysics and thermodynamics of small systems. The main focus of his research is to determine how biological systems function. Systems under investigation range from the self-organisation of receptors in membranes, the transport of cargos through biological pores, and the control of the DNA loopscape in the nucleus. Typically, research in his lab involves super-resolution light microscopy, optical tweezers, or optical control strategies. More information can be found on his website:
http://www.physics.berkeley.edu/research/liphardt/
Valerie M. Weaver, Ph.D.
Valerie M. Weaver, PhD, is the Director of the Center for Bioengineering and Tissue Regeneration in the Department of Surgery and Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery and Anatomy and Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences at UCSF. Her group studies the molecular mechanisms whereby extracellular matrix receptors and mechanical force and matrix topology modulate normal and transformed cell behavior and alter embryonic cell fate. The research involves bioengineered matrices, microscopy techniques (traction force microscopy, atomic force microscopy, second harmonic generation microscopy), cell biology and animal work.
