Salk cancer metabolism expert Reuben Shaw promoted to full professor

April 11, 2014

Salk cancer metabolism expert Reuben Shaw promoted to full professor

April 11, 2014

拉霍亚鲁本-肖, a member of the Salk Institute’s 分子与细胞生物学实验室 and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute early career scientist, has been promoted from associate professor to full professor.
After a rigorous evaluation process by Salk senior faculty, nonresident fellows and scientific peers, the promotion was announced Friday.

“We are pleased to recognize Professor Shaw’s original, innovative and notable contributions to biological research in pathways that underlie the development of cancer and metabolic disorders,” says Salk President 威廉·R·布罗迪.

While investigating one of the most commonly mutated genes in lung 癌症, Shaw discovered an energy-sensing pathway that shuts down cell growth and reprograms metabolism when nutrients are scarce. His lab went on to molecularly decode a number of new components of this biochemical pathway, which connects nutrition and exercise to suppression in both cancer and 糖尿病.

This biochemical circuit, the AMPK pathway, is activated by exercise and caloric restriction and serves to tell cells to lower their glucose, lipids and cell growth. This pathway halts the growth tumor cells, which have aberrant revved-up metabolism, but also acts to restore normal function to the liver and other tissues in diabetics. Shaw’s lab followed up on a prediction from its previous studies to recently test whether drugs widely used to treat type 2 diabetes could work as cancer treatments. The team found specific efficacy in some forms of lung cancer for which there are currently no good therapies.

In addition, researchers in Shaw’s lab use genetic mouse models to further examine the connections between cancer and metabolic diseases, and to tease out the precise role of each component of the signaling pathway. In the past five years at Salk, the lab’s studies have lead to the discovery of new therapies for both cancer and type 2 diabetes.

关于索尔克生物研究所：
索尔克生物学研究所是世界顶尖的基础研究机构之一，其国际知名的教职员工在一个独特的、合作和富有创造力的环境中，探索生命科学的基本问题。索尔克科学家致力于科学发现和培养下一代研究人员，通过对神经科学、遗传学、细胞和植物生物学以及相关学科的研究，在癌症、衰老、阿尔茨海默病、糖尿病和传染病等领域取得了开创性的贡献，加深了我们对这些疾病的理解。.

学院取得了许多成就，获得了包括诺贝尔奖和美国国家科学院院士在内的无数荣誉。该研究所由脊髓灰质炎疫苗先驱 Jonas Salk 博士于 1960 年创立，是一家独立的非营利组织和建筑地标。.