Xu Huang awarded the 2008 Howard Elder Prize for Cancer Research
Xu Huang who was a postdoc in Dario Alessi's laboratory (2004-2008) has been awarded the 2008 Howard Elder Prize for his work that established the important role that the LKB1-AMPK pathway plays in suppressing tumourigenesis.
Xu undertook 4 years of painstaking work to define the importance of the LKB1‑AMPK signalling on tumourigenesis resulting from the loss of the PTEN tumour suppressor. He used a combined genetic and pharmacological approach to establish the importance of the LKB1-AMPK signalling pathway in controlling tumourigenesis in mice resulting from the loss of the PTEN tumour suppressor. Xu demonstrated that LKB1 hypomorphic mice expressing only 10% of the normal levels of LKB1 in which AMPK signalling is suppressed, tumour formation was markedly accelerated. Conversely, Xu established that administration of PTEN deficient mice with various AMPK stimulating agents, including the clinically approved drug metformin, which is used for the treatment of Type II diabetes, delayed the onset of tumourigenesis.
Xu's findings are of particular importance as they suggest that activating AMPK through the use of already clinically approved drugs such as metformin or potentially phenformin, could be a simple strategy to exploit a cells natural growth suppressing pathway to halt proliferation of tumours. Activating the AMPK pathway in cancer cells through the use of metformin or phenformin would effectively suppress proliferation by "tricking" cells into believing that they do not have sufficient energy to grow and proliferate. Metformin or other AMPK activators could be used as an adjuvant to current cancer treatments and render these treatments more effective.
Xu's study has stimulated a lot of interest. Work is in progress now to establish whether metformin or phenformin might be used to treat patients with cancer. Xu's paper describing this work was published in June 2008 in the Biochemical Journal and has already been cited 14 times.
The Howard Elder Prize was endowed by Dr Alison Burt in memory of her father (Dr Howard Elder, a former medical graduate of the University of Dundee) 25 years ago. The prize is awarded to a PhD student or postdoctoral researcher in the College of Life Sciences deemed to have published the most significant paper in an area related to cancer research. Xu is now a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Leukaemia Biology Group of Dr Tim Somervaille, at the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research in Manchester.
Xu undertook 4 years of painstaking work to define the importance of the LKB1‑AMPK signalling on tumourigenesis resulting from the loss of the PTEN tumour suppressor. He used a combined genetic and pharmacological approach to establish the importance of the LKB1-AMPK signalling pathway in controlling tumourigenesis in mice resulting from the loss of the PTEN tumour suppressor. Xu demonstrated that LKB1 hypomorphic mice expressing only 10% of the normal levels of LKB1 in which AMPK signalling is suppressed, tumour formation was markedly accelerated. Conversely, Xu established that administration of PTEN deficient mice with various AMPK stimulating agents, including the clinically approved drug metformin, which is used for the treatment of Type II diabetes, delayed the onset of tumourigenesis.
Xu's findings are of particular importance as they suggest that activating AMPK through the use of already clinically approved drugs such as metformin or potentially phenformin, could be a simple strategy to exploit a cells natural growth suppressing pathway to halt proliferation of tumours. Activating the AMPK pathway in cancer cells through the use of metformin or phenformin would effectively suppress proliferation by "tricking" cells into believing that they do not have sufficient energy to grow and proliferate. Metformin or other AMPK activators could be used as an adjuvant to current cancer treatments and render these treatments more effective.
Xu's study has stimulated a lot of interest. Work is in progress now to establish whether metformin or phenformin might be used to treat patients with cancer. Xu's paper describing this work was published in June 2008 in the Biochemical Journal and has already been cited 14 times.
The Howard Elder Prize was endowed by Dr Alison Burt in memory of her father (Dr Howard Elder, a former medical graduate of the University of Dundee) 25 years ago. The prize is awarded to a PhD student or postdoctoral researcher in the College of Life Sciences deemed to have published the most significant paper in an area related to cancer research. Xu is now a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Leukaemia Biology Group of Dr Tim Somervaille, at the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research in Manchester.