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Sudhakar Akulapalli Advances Cancer Research

A new discovery reported by Dr. Sudhakar Akulapalli and his team of researchers at Boys Town National Research Hospital offers a significant advance in cancer research and has prompted researchers to develop and test many classes of anti-angiogenic molecules. Angiogenesis is the process by which new blood vessels are derived from preexisting ones and is essential for tumor growth. The "angiogenic switch" is turned on when levels of certain growth factors (VEGF, bFGF) exceed those of endogenous angiogenesis inhibitor molecules. The protein human alpha3(IV)NC1 is a naturally existing endogenous angiogenesis inhibitor found in body fluids or tissues, provides a counterbalance to the above growth factors.

The study led by Dr. Akulapalli and his team provides a glimpse into how this recombinant molecule functions against cancer. The hope is that this new understanding in regulating cancer growth can eventually lead to the use of these naturally existing proteins as therapies to treat cancer at an early stage.

Dr. Akulapalli’s recent research article appeared in the April 10^th 2007 online first edition of blood, a bi-monthly medical journal published by the American Society of Hematology. This publication is noted at the most cited peer-reviews publication in the medical field. The research of Dr. Akulapalli and his team could provide key understanding on how to stop the overgrowth of blood vessels that occur in cancerous tumors. These findings contribute to our understanding of the therapeutic potential of alpha3(IV)NC1 for the treatment of cancer.

Click here to download the article.

Sudhakar Akulapalli, seated with first author Chandra S. Boosani. Photo by Skip Kennedy.

Co-authors include BTNRH investigators Chandra. S. Boosani., PhD., Dominic Cosgrove, PhD and Arjuna P. Mannam, MD of the University of Connecticut School of Medicine; Venkateshwar G. Keshamouni, PhD of the University of Michigan Medical Center; Rita Silva and Kairbaan M. Hodivala-Dilke of the Cancer Research UK, St Thomas Hospital, London.

This study was funded by the Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute Young Clinical Scientist Award Grant, Dobleman Head and Neck Cancer Institute Grant and research funds of Cell Signaling and Tumor Angiogenesis Laboratory by Boys Town National Research Hospital to Sudhakar Akulapalli, and  partly supported by National Institutes of Health  grant to Dominic Cosgrove.

AUTHOR CONTACT: Dr. Sudhakar Akulapalli
Boys Town National Research Hospital, Omaha, NE USA
Phone: 402-498-6681; Fax: 402-498-6331; E-mail: akulapallis@boystown.org