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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. Timoshenko, A.V., Xu, G., Chakrabarti, S., Lala, P.K., Chakraborty, C. Role of prostaglandin E2 receptors in migration of murine and human breast cancer cells. Exp. Cell Res. 289(2):265-274, 2003.
2. Timoshenko, A.V., Lala, P.K., Chakraborty, C. PGE2-mediated upregulation of iNOS is murine breast cancer cells through the activation of EP4 receptors. Int. J. Cancer 108(3)384-389, 2004.
3. Nicola, C., Timoshenko, A.V., Dixon , S.J., Lala, P.K., Chakraborty, C. EP1 receptor-mediated migration of the first trimester human extravillous trophoblast: the role of intracellular calcium and calpain. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 90(8):4736-46, 2005.