SC State biochemistry professor receives $715K federal grant for prostate cancer research
“Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in American
males, and although death rates have declined, it is still the most diagnosed cancer
in males,” Thomas said in the project’s abstract. “Having a better understanding of
prostate cancer will help decrease these rates.”
The grant represents the first time in memory – maybe ever -- that an SC State researcher
has received an independent National Institutes of Health (NIH) award.
"We are very excited about this grant from NIH to Dr. Courtney Thomas the 1st of its kind to SC State,” said Dr. Stanley Ihekweazu, dean of SC State’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Transportation (STEM-T College). “The grant will provide an opportunity for Dr. Thomas to explore research in the area of prostate cancer and also build her career into a successful independent scientist.
“The College of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Transportation will provide Dr. Thomas all the support she will need to be successful in this endeavor,” Ihekweazu said.
SC State President Alexander Conyers has set a goal for the university to achieve Research II (R2) status in Carnegie classifications, which would position the university to compete for more federal and corporate funding for research-driven initiatives.
This grant is a step in that direction.
“Since the NIH is an internationally recognized research facility and funding agency, having an SC State faculty member be awarded an NIH grant as the sole principal investigator is paramount for SCSU's strive to R2 status,” Thomas said. “This helps us be recognized as a research quality institute leading to increased recruitment of quality faculty, and students. This could also be beneficial toward the development of more graduate programs in the STEM-T College.”
Thomas, an associate professor of biochemistry in SC State’s Department of Biological and Physical Sciences, is delving into the role calreticulin (CRT) may play in prostate cancer.
CRT is an endoplasmic reticulum resident chaperone protein, known to be expressed and regulated by androgen in prostatic epithelial cells. Epithelial cells form the covering of all body surfaces and line body cavities and hollow organs. They are the major tissue in glands.
Thomas outlined two goals for her research:
- Investigating surface-exposed CRT expression in prostate cancer.
- Evaluating the role of CRT acetylation (a common metabolic reaction) on its trafficking to the cell surface in prostate cancer.
Her preliminary data suggests CRT structure changes upon the binding of acetyl group donor. It also shows double expression of lysine (an essential amino acid) acetylation and CRT present at the cell surface of prostate cancer cells and prostate cancer tissue samples.
“Therefore, I hypothesize that CRT acetylation increases its trafficking to the cell surface in prostate cancer,” Thomas wrote in the abstract.
The grant will allow Thomas to investigate that hypothesis through a variety of research methods, including analysis of CRT in a cohort of prostate cancer patients.
The NCI Mentored Research Scientist Development Award provides five years of mentored research experience and training for early-stage investigators to have 75% release time to build their research career into a successful independent scientist.
The award covers 75% of the researcher’s salary, research supplies, training costs, travel costs for presentations, publication costs, and stipends for student researchers to work in the scientist’s lab.