BMCB-Faculty Research, Anne E. Cress

Professor of Cell Biology & Anatomy and Molecular & Cellular Biology, and Associate Dean for Research of the College of Medicine
Ph.D., University of Arizona

Molecular mechanisms of cell adhesion and human tumor progression.

Research Interests

My research interest is to understand the regulation of normal and cancer cell responses to environmental signals. The response of cells to extracellular signals is one determinant of epithelial cancer progression and is a major avenue to exploit for new therapeutic and diagnostic purposes. The following major areas of research are investigated in my laboratory:

(1) The response of cells to adhesive signals via integrin cell surface molecules. The integrins are major cell surface molecules which are responsible for the signaling of environmental changes to cells within a tissue environment. One specific integrin, a6b1, is a laminin receptor and is persistently expressed in progressing epithelial cancers and in metastatic lesions. Our current work is to understand the contribution of variant forms of the alpha 6 integrin to cancer progression and to develop ligand mimetics.

(2) The response of human cells to the extracellular matrix protein, laminin. We have recently purified two forms of laminin called laminin 1 and laminin 5. These proteins are the ligands for the integrin a6b1 and act as powerful signaling molecules to direct cellular responses. Our current working hypothesis is that these ligands and their fragments promote distinct cellular transcription responses. We are currently using DNA microarray technology to determine whether specific laminin forms and fragments will trigger specific patterns of gene activation.

(3) The response of cells to damaging agents. In particular, we have studied the signaling responses of normal and tumor cells to ionizing radiation and chemotherapeutic agents. During the course of this work, we have discovered a novel form of drug resistance which is dependent upon the cytoskeleton and cellular adhesion.

Select Publications

Any link on the below references will take you off of the BMCB site and to an abstract of that particular paper.

Sroka, T.C., M.E. Pennington, and A.E. Cress. 2006. Synthetic D-amino acid peptide inhibits tumor cell motility on laminin-5. Carcinogenesis (in press).

Oshiro, M.M., B.W. Futscher, A. Lisberg, R.J. Wozniak, W.T. Klimecki, F.E. Domann, and A.E. Cress. 2005. Epigenetic regulation of the cell type-specific gene 14-3-3sigma. Neoplasia 7: 799-808.

Oshiro, M.M., C.J. Kim, R.J. Wozniak, D.J. Junk, J.L. Munoz-Rodriguez, J.A. Burr, M. Fitzgerald, S.C. Pawar, A.E. Cress, F.E. Domann, and B.W. Futscher. 2005. Epigenetic silencing of DSC3 is a common event in human breast cancer. Breast Cancer Research 7: R669-R680.

Kremer, C.L., M. Schmelz, and A.E. Cress. 2006. Integrin-dependent amplification of the G2 arrest induced by ionizing radiation. Prostate 66: 88-96.

Bair, E.L., M.L. Chen, K. McDaniel, K. Sekiguchi, A.E. Cress, R.B. Nagle, and G.T. Bowden. 2005. Membrane type 1 matrix metalloprotease cleaves laminin-10 and promotes prostate cancer cell migration. Neoplasia 7: 380-389.

Schmelz, M., R. Moll, U. Hesse, A.R. Prasad, J.A. Gandolfi, S.R. Hasan, M. Bartholdi, and A.E. Cress. 2005. Identification of a stem cell candidate in the normal human prostate gland. European Journal of Cell Biology 84: 341-354.

Cress, A.E., and S. Mohla. 2004. Therapeutic targeting of prostate cancer. Cancer Biology and Therapy 3: 1028-1030.

Demetriou, M.C., M.E. Pennington, R.B. Nagle, and A.E. Cress. 2004. Extracellular alpha 6 integrin cleavage by urokinase-type plasminogen activator in human prostate cancer. Experimental Cell Research 294: 550-558.

Demetriou, M.C., and A.E. Cress. 2004. Integrin clipping: a novel adhesion switch? Journal of Cellular Biochemistry 91: 26-35.

Chauhan, S., S. Kunz, K. Davis, J. Roberts, G. Martin, M.C. Demetriou, T.C. Sroka, A.E. Cress, and R.L. Miesfeld. 2004. Androgen control of cell proliferation and cytoskeletal reorganization in human fibrosarcoma cells: role of RhoB signaling. Journal of Biological Chemistry 279: 937-944.

Chauhan, S., R. Pandey, J.R. Way, T.C. Sroka, M.C. Demetriou, S. Kunz, A.E. Cress, D.W. Mount, and R.L. Miesfeld. 2003. Androgen regulation of the human FERM domain encoding gene EHM2 in a cell model of steroid-induced differentiation. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 310: 421-432.

Udayakumar, T.S., M.L. Chen, E.L. Bair, D.C. Von Bredow, A.E. Cress, R.B. Nagle, and G.T. Bowden. 2003. Membrane type-1-matrix metalloproteinase expressed by prostate carcinoma cells cleaves human laminin-5 beta3 chain and induces cell migration. Cancer Research 63: 2292-2299.

Parrish, A.R., K. Sallam, D.W. Nyman, J. Orozco, A.E. Cress, B.L. Dalkin, R.B. Nagle, and A.J. Gandolfi. 2002. Culturing precision-cut human prostate slices as an in vitro model of prostate pathobiology. Cell Biology and Toxicology 18: 205-219.

Schmelz, M., A.E. Cress, K.M. Scott, F. Burger, H. Cui, K. Sallam, K.M. McDaniel, B.L. Dalkin, and R.B. Nagle. 2002. Different phenotypes in human prostate cancer: alpha6 or alpha3 integrin in cell-extracellular adhesion sites. Neoplasia 4: 243-254.

Davis, T.L., F. Buerger, and A.E. Cress. 2002. Differential regulation of a novel variant of the alpha(6) integrin, alpha(6p). Cell Growth and Differentiation 13: 107-113.

Whitacre, D.C., S. Chauhan, T. Davis, D. Gordon, A.E. Cress, and R.L. Miesfeld. 2002. Androgen induction of in vitro prostate cell differentiation. Cell Growth and Differentiation 13: 1-11.

Bair, E.L., C.P. Massey, N.L. Tran, A.H. Borchers, R.L. Heimark, A.E. Cress, and G.T. Bowden. 2001. Integrin- and cadherin-mediated induction of the matrix metalloprotease matrilysin in cocultures of malignant oral squamous cell carcinoma cells and dermal fibroblasts. Experimental Cell Research 270: 259-267.

Schmelz, M., A.E. Cress, J. Barrera, K.M. McDaniel, T.L. Davis, L. Fuchs, B.L. Dalkin, and R.B. Nagle. 2001. PEAZ-1: a new human prostate neoplastic epithelial cell line. Prostate 48: 79-92.

Davis, T.L., I. Rabinovitz, B.W. Futscher, M. Schnolzer, F. Burger, Y. Liu, M. Kulesz-Martin, and A.E. Cress. 2001. Identification of a novel structural variant of the alpha 6 integrin. Journal of Biological Chemistry 276: 26099-26106.

Contact Information

Mailing:
Anne E. Cress, Professor
Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy
University of Arizona
Arizona Cancer Center 4963A
P.O. Box 245024
Tucson, AZ 85724-5024

Telephone:
520-626-7553 (Office)
520-626-4568 (Lab)

Fax:
520-626-4979

Email:
cress@azcc.arizona.edu

Please e-mail any comments to:
bmcb@email.arizona.edu