Tao Lu
Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis, IN·Pharmacology
Pancreatic cancer is among the deadliest cancers: only about 10% of patients survive five years. The standard first treatment combines gemcitabine with nab-paclitaxel, a form of paclitaxel bound to albumin nanoparticles.
- Fields
Pharmacology
Biomedical Engineering
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
pancreatic cancer
pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
protein arginine methyltransferase 5
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jan 2027
What they work on
- Scale up production of Abxtal-CM01, the PRMT5 inhibitor CM01 packaged as albumin-coated nanocrystals, and characterize its size and physical properties.
- Test whether Abxtal-CM01 keeps CM01's ability to block PRMT5, an enzyme that tags and activates the cancer-promoting protein NF-κB, in pancreatic cancer cells grown in the lab.
- Determine whether Abxtal-CM01 improves tumor delivery and inhibits pancreatic tumors in mice, alone or combined with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel.
More about the research
Patients on this combination survive a median of only about 8.5 months, and the drugs cause considerable side effects. Part of the problem is that these drugs switch on NF-κB, a protein that turns on genes helping the cancer grow and resist treatment.
Why it matters
Patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma have few effective options. A better-absorbed form of the PRMT5 inhibitor CM01 could improve delivery of the drug to tumors. If it also works together with standard chemotherapy, it may offer a more effective treatment strategy for this disease.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Saunjoo Yoon
University of Florida, FL·Pharmacology
Test the effectiveness of 4NSGnpcetu, anti-EGFR antibody-coated nanoparticles carrying a modified gemcitabine, in patient-derived pancreatic cancer organoids with stroma and in primary tumor cells from patients.
John McAuliffe
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY·Medicine & Clinical Research
Determine whether pancreatic cancer cells circulating in the blood or spread to organs like the liver express NR2F1, a gene-switching receptor linked to dormancy, in mice and in human patients.
Wantong Yao
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, TX·Medicine & Clinical Research
Define the molecular pathways through which a newly identified stress-response regulator helps pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells survive nutrient shortage, low oxygen and oxidative stress, and evade the immune system.
The school
Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis: 25 labs on PI Pages, $89M a year on research, 120 research doctorates a year.
More about Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.