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School
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School
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Alam Nur-E-Kamal Associate Professor of Biology
University of Tokyo, Japan, 1989 | |
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Dr. Alam Nur-E-Kamal, is an Associate Professor. His research is focused on understanding the molecular mechanism of small G proteins (Ras GTPase family) mediated signaling pathway(s) in mammalian cells. Members of the Ras family of G proteins regulate various functions of cells including cell division, movement, intracellular transport, and differentiation. Multiple signals are produced from these small G proteins depending on cell type. The following cell culture systems are being used to understand the molecular mechanism of Ras-induced signal transduction pathways.
1. Cancer Biology. Ras and its-related small G protein have been implicated in transformation (a cancer phenotype) of mammalian cells. However, these proteins are essential for normal function including proliferation and differentiation of cells. It is important to dissect normal and transformation signals produced by small G proteins. My major interest is to identify downstream molecules involved in transformation of mammalian cells. Identification of such molecule will be useful in designing specific inhibitors to develop a therapy for small G protein-induced cancer. We found that inhibition of Ras-Cdc42-ACK signaling pathway induces apoptosis of v-Ras-transformed NIH 3T3 cells while parental NIH 3T3 cells keep growing. This suggests that ACK, downstream component of Ras signaling pathway could be targeted to kill Ras-transformed cancer cells.
2. Neurobiology and stem cells: Neurons extend filamentous structures called neurites/axons to make contacts with effector cells. Maintenance of neurite structure and contact is critical for proper function of neuron. We are interested to explore a potential role of Ras GTPases in differentiation of stem cells to body cells including neurons. We have currently developed a unique culture condition for human and mouse embryonic stem cell culture using 3D nanofibrillar surfaces. We engineer three-dimensional (3D) nanofibrillar surfaces to create in vivo-like culture surfaces to direct stem cells to proliferate or to differentiate to cells of specific tissues. Recently, we have developed a condition to direct differentiation of embryonic stem cells to neuronal precursor cells. This nascent field of stem cell biology has potential for a wide range of applications such as tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, understanding key signaling pathways involved in proliferation/differentiation, and molecular mechanism of embryogenesis.
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