Dr. Jun Chung’s Research Focus

Research interests

Mechanisms that underlie the genesis of invasive carcinoma and the progression to metastatic disease are the major interests of our laboratory with a specific focus on adhesion recetor, integrin and breast carcinoma. While many integrins contribute to cancer progression, we are particularly interested in a6b4 integrin which has been implicated in breast and head/neck cancer progression. a6b4 integrin, which is expressed primarily on the basal surface of most epithelia, is defined as an adhesion receptor for most of the known laminins. It is highly important for tumor cells to maintain their survival and induce angiogenesis in micro environmental conditions such as low nutrition and hypoxia for successful metastases. My previous finding demonstrated that integrins, such as a6b4, can directly increase translation of metastasis-related mRNAs via activation of a ser/thr kinase termed “mTOR” under the conditions that mimic tumor micro-environment. Enough evidences have accumulated that mTOR is playing an essential role in cancer progression by increasing translation of metastasis related mRNAs such as VEGF, which are essential for carcinoma survival and angiogenesis. Therefore, dissecting these signaling mechanisms more rigorously within the context of tumor-micro environmental cues will provide the targets for the anti-cancer therapeutics. Using si-RNA strategy targeting against various integrin subunits and key integrin downstream signaling molecules including mTOR, S6K and 4E-BP, my recent research focuses on screening and identifying key oncogenic targets whose expression are regulated by integrin and mTOR under various stress condition.