 Michael F. Verderame, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism
Assistant Professor
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Graduate Program Affiliations:
Cell and Molecular Biology, Genetics, Microbiology and Immunology
Ph.D., Columbia University, 1984;
Postdoctoral Training, University of California, San Francisco, 1984-1989
Email: mverdera@psu.edu
Research Interests
Normal growth and development requires that every cell in the body respond
appropriately to the many signals it receives from its environment - these
signals include both circulating hormones as well as positional information
conveyed by the structural milieu surrounding the cell. Processing of this
information (known as signal transduction) is frequently disrupted in cancer.
The long term interest of my laboratory is understanding the molecular
mechanisms that govern the highly complex but exquisitely orchestrated processes
of normal growth and development, and how these processes are disrupted in
disease states such as cancer
The major research focus of my laboratory is breast cancer - the most
commonly diagnosed cancer in American women. Unfortunately the biochemical
pathways altered in breast cancer remain poorly defined. Two PTKs of particular
interest to us are HER2 and SRC. HER2 is critical for continued growth of a
substantial fraction of breast cancers. SRC is suspected to also be important in
breast cancer growth, although its exact role remains to be defined.
My laboratory’s current efforts to understand the role of HER2 and SRC in
breast cancer employ a novel, 3-dimentional culture system that, unlike
traditional culture systems, allows normal breast epithelial cells to
differentiate. It is our belief that this more physiological system will
ultimately allow us to understand the roles of HER2 and SRC in breast cancer,
and identify critical targets for future drug development.
Selected Publications
- Manni A. Wechter R. Verderame, M.F. Mauger
D. Cooperativity
between the polyamine pathway and HER-2neu in transformation of human
mammary epithelial cells in culture: role of the MAPK pathway.
International Journal of Cancer. 76(4):563-70, 1998.
- Manni A. Wechter R. Gilmour S. Verderame, M.F.
Mauger D. Demers L.M. Ornithine
decarboxylase over-expression stimulates mitogen-activated protein kinase
and anchorage- independent growth of human breast epithelial cells.
International Journal of Cancer. 70(2):175-82 1997.
- Verderame, M.F. pp60v-src
transformation of rat cells strongly correlates with low affinity P-tyr
binding by the SH2 domain. Molecular Biology of the Cell 8:843-854,
1997.
- Verderame, M.F. Guan J.L. Woods
Ignatoski K.M. Transformation
and pp60v-src autophosphorylation correlate with SHC-GRB2 complex formation
in rat and chicken cells expressing host-range and kinase-active,
transformation-defective alleles of v-src. Molecular Biology of the
Cell. 6(8):953-66, 1995.
- Garnier L. Wills J.W. Verderame, M.F. Sudol M.
WW domains and retrovirus budding [letter]. Nature. 381(6585):744-5, 1996.
- Verderame, M.F., Kaplan, J.M. and Varmus, H.E. A
mutation in v-src that removes a single conserved residue in the SH-2 domain
of pp60 v-src restricts transformation in a host-dependent manner. J.
Virol. 63: 338-348 (1989).
- Verderame, M.F. and Varmus, H.E. Highly
conserved amino acids in the SH2 and catalytic domains of v-src are altered
in naturally occurring, transformation-defective alleles. Oncogene
9: 175-182 (1994).
- Woods, K.M. and Verderame, M.F. Autophosphorylation
is required for kinase activity and transformation ability of the protein
encoded by the host-range allele v-src-L. J. Virol. 68: 7549-7553
(1994).
- Siever, D.A. and Verderame, M.F. Identification
of the complete Cek7 receptor tyrosine kinase coding sequence and cDNAs of
alternately spliced transcripts. Gene 148: 219-226 (1994).
- Verderame, M.F. Guan J.L. Woods Ignatoski K.M. Transformation
and pp60v-src autophosphorylation correlate with SHC-GRB2 complex formation
in rat and chicken cells expressing host-range and kinase-active,
transformation-defective alleles of v-src. Molecular Biology of the
Cell. 6(8):953-66 (1995).
- Shao H. Lou L. Pandey A. Verderame, M.F. Siever D.A.
Dixit V.M. cDNA
cloning and characterization of a Cek7 receptor protein-tyrosine kinase
ligand that is identical to the ligand (ELF-1) for the Mek-4 and Sek
receptor protein-tyrosine kinases. Journal of Biological Chemistry.
270(8):3467-70 (1995).
- Ignatoski K.M. Verderame, M.F. Lysis buffer composition
dramatically affects extraction of phosphotyrosine-containing proteins. Biotechniques.
20(5):794-6 (1996).
- Garnier L. Wills J.W. Verderame, M.F. Sudol M. WW domains
and retrovirus budding [letter]. Nature. 381(6585):744-5 (1996).
- Verderame, M.F. Nelle T.D. Wills J.W. The
membrane-binding domain of the Rous sarcoma virus Gag protein. Journal
of Virology. 70(4):2664-8 (1996).
- Manni A. Wechter R. Gilmour S. Verderame, M.F. Mauger D.
Demers L.M. Ornithine
decarboxylase over-expression stimulates mitogen-activated protein kinase
and anchorage-independent growth of human breast epithelial cells. International
Journal of Cancer. 70(2):175-82 (1997).
- Manni A. Wechter R. Verderame, M.F. Mauger D. Cooperativity
between the polyamine pathway and HER-2neu in transformation of human
mammary epithelial cells in culture: role of the MAPK pathway. International
Journal of Cancer. 76(4):563-70, (1998).
- Nelle TD. Verderame, M.F. Leis J. Wills JW. The
major site of phosphorylation within the Rous sarcoma virus MA protein is
not required for replication. Journal of Virology.
72(2):1103-7, (1998).
- Verderame, M.F. pp60v-src
transformation of rat cells strongly correlates with low affinity P-tyr
binding by the SH2 domain. Molecular Biology of the Cell 8:843-854,
(1997).
- Nelle TD. Verderame MF. Leis J. Wills JW. The
major site of phosphorylation within the Rous sarcoma virus MA protein is
not required for replication. Journal of Virology. 72(2):1103-7,
(1998).
- Manni A. Wechter R. Verderame MF.. Mauger D. Cooperativity
between the polyamine pathway and HER-2neu in transformation of human
mammary epithelial cells in culture: role of the MAPK pathway. International
Journal of Cancer. 76(4):563-70, (1998).
- Smith JP. Verderame MF. Zagon IS. Antisense
oligonucleotides to gastrin inhibit growth of human pancreatic cancer. Cancer
Letters. 135(1):107-12, (1999).
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