daniel-kelpsch@uiowa.edu
Mentor: Tina Tootle, Ph.D.
Lab Room: 1-500 BSB
Lab Phone: 319-335-7735

Defining molecular mechanisms of prostaglandins during tumorigenesis

Cyclooxygenase enzymes (COX-1 and COX-2) are responsible for the production of short-range lipid signaling molecules called prostaglandins (PGs). The inhibition of these enzymes is the best-known mechanism of action of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin. A number of studies now indicate aspirin as a cancer preventative, however the mechanism of cancer prevention remains undefined. We are taking a multifaceted approach to understand the roles of aspirin and PGs in lung carcinogenesis by: 1. Direct measurement of PGs by ultra high-pressure liquid chromatography in tandem with multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry. 2. Use of cell culture models to determine the functional effects of various PGs and aspirin. 3. A bioinformatic approach using large clinical datasets available through The Cancer Genome Atlas to determine PG pathways essential to carcinogenesis. The culmination of this research aims to define novel effects of aspirin in cancer prevention.

Kolb, R., Kluz, P., Tan, Z.W., Borcherding, N., Bormann, N., Balcziak, L., Zhu, P., Davies, B.S.J., Gourronc, F., Gibson-Corley, K., Klingelhutz, A., Kelpsch, D.J., Tootle, T.L., Elmasry, K., Ibrahim, A.S., Al-Shabrawey, M., Soon TAN, N., Sutterwala, F.S. Zhang, W. 2018. Obesity-associated inflammation promotes angiogenesis and breast cancer via angiopoietin-like 4. EMBO. Submitted.

Tootle, T.L., Hoffmann, D., Allen, A., Spracklen, A., Groen, C., Kelpsch, D.J. 2018. Mini-CURE as an approach to increase interest in biomedical science education and careers. J Coll Sci Teach. In Review.

Kelpsch, D.J., Tootle, T.L. 2018. Nuclear actin: from discovery to function. Anat. Rec. Accepted.

Wineland, D.M., Kelpsch, D.J., Tootle, T.T. 2018. Multiple pools of nuclear actin regulate Drosophila oogenesis. Anat. Rec. Accepted.*Authors contributed equally to this work

Kelpsch DJ, Groen CM, Fagan TN, Sudhir S, Tootle TL. Fascin regulates nuclear actin during Drosophila oogenesis. Mol Biol Cell. 2016 Oct 1;27(19):2965-79. doi: 10.1091/mbc.E15-09-0634. Epub 2016 Aug 17. PubMed PMID: 27535426; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5042582.

Brambert PR, Kelpsch DJ, Hameed R, Desai CV, Calafiore G, Godley LA, Raimondi SL. DNMT3B7 expression promotes tumor progression to a more aggressive phenotype in breast cancer cells. PLoS One. 2015 Jan 21;10(1):e0117310. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0117310. eCollection 2015. PubMed PMID: 25607950; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4301645.

Spracklen AJ, Kelpsch DJ, Chen X, Spracklen CN, Tootle TL. Prostaglandins temporally regulate cytoplasmic actin bundle formation during Drosophila oogenesis. Mol Biol Cell. 2014 Feb;25(3):397-411. doi: 10.1091/mbc.E13-07-0366. Epub 2013 Nov 27. PubMed PMID: 24284900; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3907279.

Kelpsch, D.J.*, Williams, L.E.*, Du, A.*, Hulstein, C.L.*, Advani, M.K.*, Raimondi, S.L. 2012. A comparison of the E-cadherin-regulated Ras/MAP kinase pathway in two breast cancer cell lines. BIOS 83, 17-25.