Congratulations to Dr. King for the grants most recently awarded to him. His work, which has centered on the mechanisms of growth factor mRNA stabilization in malignant gliomas and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), is now further supported by two new grants from the National Institutes of Health and from the Department of Veterans Affairs:
- VA merit review award ($500,000), starting July 1, to study RNA stability of growth factors in brain tumors, a prestigious award given only to fully trained investigators who must meet multiple criteria
- NIH R01 award ($1.2 million), starting October 1, to study dysregulated processing of RNA growth factors in ALS
In malignant gliomas, growth factor mRNAs such as VEGF and IL-8 are stabilized by cellular factors and upregulated to promote tumor cell growth and angiogenesis. In contrast, ALS linked to mutations of superoxide dismutase leads to motor neuron degeneration and VEGF mRNA destabilization. These two models provide excellent platforms to study the impact of posttranscriptional RNA regulation on human disease. The long-term goals of these research proposals are to characterize mechanisms involved in RNA stabilization and to identify potential therapeutic targets within this level of gene regulation. In ALS, for example, augmenting RNA stabilization of neuroprotective growth factors would promote motor neuron survival. In malignant gliomas, on the other hand, promoting RNA destabilization of the very same factors would serve to suppress tumor growth.