Professor Yoshinori MURAKAMI【Key Words】Cell adhesion, Invasion and metastasis, Energy metabolism of cancer, Genome analysis, Development of novel approaches to diagnosis and treatment of cancer
Human cancers develop and progress toward malignancy through accumulation of multiple genetic and epigenetic alterations. Elucidation of these alterations is essential to provide molecular targets for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. Our current interest is to understand the role of cell adhesion in cancer invasion and metastasis. To this end, an immunoglobulin superfamily cell adhesion molecule, CADM1, and its cascade were identified and are being characterized. Genetic and epigenetic abnormalities involved in human tumors, including cholangiocarcinoma, adult T-cell leukemia, lung, breast and urological cancers, are also being investigated. Furthermore, significance of the copy number variation in various cancers is being analyzed as an additional driving force to enhance genomic instability in cancer cells.
