Brady-Kalnay Lab
Principal Investigator: Susann M Brady-Kalnay
Institution: Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, OH)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
Both inside the central nervous system and outside in the peripheral nervous system, cancer cells grow along nerves as routes of invasion and metastasis called neural invasion. This growth is common in several carcinomas including breast cancer and is associated with poor prognosis. Proteolysis of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) occurs in development, and growing evidence suggests this post-translational modification may promote tumor migration and invasion on nerves that ultimately leads to metastasis to the brain in various tumor types including breast cancer. The receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase PTPµ is a CAM that is proteolyzed in cancer cells to generate an extracellular fragment that is a unique imaging biomarker of the tumor microenvironment. The PTPµ- targeted agents we developed bind to this biomarker and recognize human brain tumors as well as invasive primary breast cancer and breast cancer that has metastasized to the brain. Systemic delivery of the PTPµ- targeted agent results in binding to tumor cells within minutes in xenograft models. Using a 3D cryo-imaging system we analyzed the extent of cell migration and dispersal within the brain. We found that the PTPµ-ta…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R01CA269816-04: Detection, Radiosensitization and Theranostic Targeting of Metastatic Breast Cancer by PTPmu (2026)
- 5R01CA269816-03: Detection, Radiosensitization and Theranostic Targeting of Metastatic Breast Cancer by PTPmu (2025)
- 5R01CA269816-02: Detection, Radiosensitization and Theranostic Targeting of Metastatic Breast Cancer by PTPmu (2024)
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