The Law Lab

Research Overview

Law Lab research focuses on the identification of new breast cancer therapeutic targets in the following areas: 1. Identification and optimization of small molecules that activate Death Receptors 4 and 5 by altering their pattern of disulfide bonding. These compounds cause disulfide-mediated DR4/5 oligomerization and cancer cell death. Direct molecular targets of these agents are the Protein Disulfide Isomerases (PDIs) ERp44, AGR2, and PDIA1. ERp44 and AGR2 inactivation are “strongly selective” against cancer cells (Broad DepMap) and only our laboratory has developed inhibitors of these PDIs as anticancer therapeutics. 2. Therapeutic strategies to restore and anti-invasion/anti-metastasis functions of E-cadherin in breast cancer. E-cadherin suppresses cancer invasion and metastasis by promoting cell-cell adhesion, but this E-cadherin function is frequently lost in cancer. We have identified a mixture of agents that restore E-cadherin localization and function in cancer cells in vitro and in tumors in vivo. 3. The CDCP1 protein in breast cancer formation and spread. CDCP1 may promote cancer metastasis through mechanisms involving promotion of cancer cell growth and survival in suspension (i.e., anoikis evasion) and by disrupting multiple cell-cell and cell-substrate adhesive mechanisms.

what we are doing in our lab

Research Focus Area

• Drug Discovery
• Breast Cancer Development and Progression
• Proteostasis/Protein Folding
• Disulfide Isomerases
• Death Receptor Regulation and Signaling
• Cancer Metastasis
• Cell Cycle Dysregulation

what you would learn in our lab

Research Tools & Skills

• Cell Culture
• Affinity Purification and Analysis of Multi-• Protein Complexes
• Protein Regulation by Posttranslational • Modifications
• Regulation of Receptor Trafficking and Stability by Disulfide Bonding
• Syngeneic and Patient-Derived Breast Cancer • Models of Drug Testing
• Investigation of Mechanisms of Drug Action
• Biochemistry/Cell Biology
• Gain and Loss of Gene Function Studies

CURRENT & UP TO DATE PUBLICATIONS

Recent Publications

Check out the recent publications from the Primary Investigator (PI), Dr. Brian Law