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Research Interests

Keywords: Intrauterine Growth Retardation (IUGR), Preeclampsia, Tumor Progression, Cell Migration/Invasion

Description of Research Activities: Pregnancy-induced disorders in women called IUGR and preeclampsia are characterized by reduced motility and invasiveness of extravillous (intermediate) trophoblast cells. On the other hand, hypermigratory/hyperinvasive behaviours are very important characteristics of tumor cells to acquire in order them to progress. We are mainly interested in learning intracellular signal transduction mechanisms, which are important for agonist-induced cellular migration. Finding key downstream mediators of IGF-II/IGFR2, IGF-I/IGFR1, uPA/uPAR, IGFBP-1/a 5 ß 1 integrin, and PGE 2 /EP receptor interactions is our main focus. Human extravillous trophoblast (EVT) cells and breast cancer cells are used as models.

Selected Publications

1. Shields, S.K., Nicola, C., Chakraborty, C. Rho GTPases differentially regulate IGF1 receptor-dependent and –independent actions of IGFII on human trophoblast migration. Endocrinology 148: 4906-4917; 2007.
2. Nicola C, Chirpac A, Lala PK, Chakraborty C. Roles of Rho Guanosine 5'- TriphosphataseA, Rho-kinases and Extracellular Signal Regulated Kinase (ERK1/2) in Prostaglandin E2-Mediated Migration of First Trimester Human Extravillous Trophoblast. Endocrinology. 149(3):1243-51, 2008.
3. Zuo Y, Wu Y and Chakraborty C. Cdc42 negatively regulates intrinsic migration of highly aggressive breast cancer cell lines. J Cell Physiol, 227(4):1399-407, 2012.
4. Saso J, Shields SK, Zuo Y and Chakraborty C. Role of Rho GTPases in IGFBP1-mediated trophoblast migration. Biol Reprod 86(1):1-9, 2012.