Dr. Pradip Raychaudhuri is a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. His lab has been studying nuclear proteins involved in cancer progression; together, they made significant contributions in the fields of DNA tumor virus oncoproteins (e.g., HPV E6 and E7) with regards to how they target the nuclear tumor suppressors (such p53 and RB) to immortalize and transform normal cells. Currently, one of the main focuses of the lab is the tumor suppressor DDB2. They made several seminal discoveries describing its tumor suppression function. We generated a knockout strain of mice to study its role in DNA repair. Interestingly, the DDB2-/- mice develop spontaneous tumors (Oncogene, 2008).
Currently, they are investigating the roles of DDB2 in the suppression of colon cancer progression. Their working model is that DDB2 plays a significant role in the suppression of high-grade progression of colon cancer by transcriptionally regulating genes involved in metastasis. FoxM1 is a proliferation-associated transcription factor whose over-expression strongly correlates with aggressive tumor progression.
Dr. Raychaudhuri’s studied this factor in collaboration with late Dr. R.H. Costa. After his passing, FoxM1 has become a major interest in his lab. In collaboration with Dr. Costa, his lab showed that FoxM1 is critical for liver tumor development and progression (Genes & Dev., 2004, Kalinichenko V. et al). Moreover, it is a target of the tumor suppressor Arf. Recently, they studied the other cellular mechanisms including phosphorylation and proteolysis that control activities of FoxM1 during the cell cycle progression (Mol. Cell. Biol. 2008, and J. Biol. Chem. 2009).
His research is focused on FoxM1 in liver and breast cancer progression; DDB2 in colon cancer development; nuclear proteins; and DNA tumor virus oncoproteins.