Eminent researcher, educator to be MD Anderson¡¯s fourth president
Jonathan Kurie, M.D. (left), mentored Yanan Yang, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow, in the discovery of the role of the Jagged2 protein. Photo: Wyatt McSpadden
Researchers have discovered a new, key component in the spread of lung cancer in the protein Jagged2 ¡ª which silences protective microRNA (miR-200) ¡ª as well as a likely way to block it with drugs now in clinical trial.
¡°We think metastasis is initiated by the tumor microenvironment,¡± says Jonathan Kurie, M.D., professor in MD Anderson¡¯s Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology and senior author on the paper.
¡°Cells metastasize in response to external cues, one of which is Jagged2,¡± says Yanan Yang, Ph.D., Kurie¡¯s postdoctoral fellow and the study¡¯s first author.
Reported in the March 14, 2011, edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
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