Qualifications:
- M.D., Ph.D.

Expertise/ Research Interests:
A major interest of our laboratory is to study the genetic alterations and their molecular mechanisms in human ovarian cancer. Specifically, we are interested in elucidation of normal cellular function of the PI3K/Akt and Aurora-A pathways and to characterize their role in human ovarian carcinogenesis. In particular, we are focusing on the identification of molecules that are specifically regulated by Akt or Aurora-A as well as the molecules that are regulated by PI3K/PTEN but not Akt. In addition, we are also interested in the identification of small molecule inhibitors of Akt and Aurora-A for cancer intervention. The underlying hypothesis of these researches is that Akt and Aurora-A contribute to the control of ovarian surface epithelial cell proliferation and malignant transformation by mediating important signals. Thus, Akt and Aurora-A could be critical targets for therapeutic intervention of human ovarian cancer. We have previously demonstrated frequent alterations of Akt and Aurora-A in human ovarian cancer and identified a number of molecules that are regulated by Akt or Aurora-A. We have also identified several chemical compounds that specifically inhibit Akt or Aurora-A, one of which is currently in clinic trial. In addition, our laboratory have characterized the promoters of Akt and Aurora-A, and demonstrated transcriptional regulation of Akt and Aurora-A by a number of oncogenic transcriptional factors.

Memberships:
- American Association for Advancement of Science
- American Association for Cancer Research
- American Society for Microbiology
- American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Previous Positions:
- 2005-present, Professor, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, FL.

- 2001-2005, Associate Professor, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, FL.

- 1997-2001, Assistant Professor, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, FL.

- 1996-1997, Staff Scientist, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA.

- 1994-1996, Senior Research Associate, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA.

- 1990-1994, Postdoctoral Fellow, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia; Graduate Student, Paris-XIII University, Paris, France.

- 1988-1990, Graduate Student, Paris-XIII University, Paris, France.

- 1986-1988, Attending Doctor, Beijing Thoracic Tumor Institute, Beijing, China.

Publications:

1. Lee H, Dan HC, Kim D, Cao C, Nicosia SV, Golemis EA, Liu W, Testa JR, Cheng JQ. Identification and characterization of putative tumor suppressor NGB, a GTP-binding protein that interacts with the neurofibromatosis 2 protein. In press in Mol. Cell. Biol.
2. Yang H, He L, Kruk P, Nicosia SV, Cheng JQ. Aurora-A Induces Cell Survival and Chemoresistance by Activation of Akt through a p53-dependent Manner in Ovarian Cancer Cells. In press in Int. J. Cancer
3. Pu P, Kang C, Li J, Jiang H, Cheng J. The Effects of Antisense AKT2 RNA on the Inhibition of Malignant Glioma Cell Growth in vitro and in vivo. J. Neurooncol. 76:1-11, 2006.
4. Wang G, Barrett JW, Stanford M, Gao X, Sun M, Cheng JQ, McFadden G. Permissive infection of human cancer cells with mxyoma virus requires activation of Akt via interaction with a viral homolog of PIKE-A Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:4640-5, 2006.
5. Gritsko T, Williams A, Turkson J, Kaneko S, Bowman T, Huang M, Nam S, Eweis I, Diaz N, Sullivan D, Yoder S, Enkemann S, Eschrich S, Lee JH, Beam CA, Cheng J, Minton S, Muro-Cacho CA, Jove R. Persistent activation of stat3 signaling induces survivin gene expression and confers resistance to apoptosis in human breast cancer cells. Clin Cancer Res. 12:11-19, 2006.
6. Fang Q, Naidu KA, Naidu KA, Zhao H, Sun M, Dan HC, Nasir A, Kaiser HE, Cheng JQ, Nicosia SV, Coppola D. Ascorbyl stearate inhibits cell proliferation and tumor growth in human ovarian carcinoma cells by targeting the PI3K/AKT pathway. Anticancer Res. 26:203-209, 2006.
7. Park S, Kim D, Szewczyk K.M, Nicosia S.V, Yu H, Jove R, Cheng JQ. Molecular cloning and characterization of the human Akt1 promoter uncovers its upregulation by the Src/Stat3 pathway. J Biol Chem 280:38932-38941 2005.
8. Niesen MI, Osborne AR, Yang H, Rastogi S, Chellappan S, Cheng JQ, Boss JM, Blanck G. Activation of a methylated promoter mediated by a sequence specific DNA binding protein: RFX. J Biol Chem. 280:38914-38922, 2005.
9. Kim D, Cheng GZ, Lindsley CW, Yang H, Cheng JQ. Targeting the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/Akt pathway for the treatment of cancer. Current Opinion in Invest. Drugs, 6:120-1258, 2005.
10. Nam S, Kim D, Cheng JQ, Zhang S, Lee JH, Buettner R, Mirosevich J, Lee FY, Jove R. Action of the Src family kinase inhibitor, dasatinib (BMS-354825), on human prostate cancer cells.
    Cancer Res. 65:9185-9189, 2005.
11. Cheng JQ*, Lindsley CW, Cheng GZ, Yang H, Nicosia SV. The Akt/PKB pathway: molecular target for cancer drug discovery. Oncogene 245:7482-7492, 2005 (* Corresponding author)
12. Xu Q, Briggs J, Park S, Niu G, Kortylewski M, Zhang S, Gritsko T, Turkson J, Kay H, Semenza GL, Cheng JQ*, Jove R, Yu H*. Targeting Stat3 blocks both HIF-1 and VEGF expression induced by multiple oncogenic growth signaling pathways. Oncogene. 24:5552-5560 2005 (*Co-corresponding author)
13. Nam S, Buettner R, Turkson J, Kim D, Cheng JQ, Muehlbeyer S, Hippe F, Vatter S, Merz KH, Eisenbrand G, Jove R. Indirubin derivatives inhibit Stat3 signaling and induce apoptosis in human cancer cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 102:5998-6003, 2005.
14. Yuan ZQ, Kim D, Kaneko S, Sussman M, Bokoch GM, Kruh GD, Nicosia SV, Testa JR, Cheng JQ. ArgBP2g interacts with Akt and p21-activated kinase-1 and promotes cell survival.
    J Biol Chem. 280:21483-21490, 2005.
15. Patel NA, Kaneko S, Apostolatos HS, Bae SS, Watson JE, Davidowitz K, Chappell DS, Birnbaum MJ, Cheng JQ, Cooper DR. Molecular and genetic studies imply Akt-mediated signaling promotes PKCbII alternative splicing via phosphorylation of SRp40. J Biol Chem. 280:14302-14309, 2005
16. Kim D, Dan HC, Park S, Yang L, Liu Q, Kaneko S, Ning J, He L, Yang H, Sun M, Nicosia SV, Cheng JQ. AKT/PKB signaling mechanisms in cancer and chemoresistance. Front Biosci. 10:975-784, 2005.
17. Liu, Q., Kaneko, S., Yang, L., Feldman, R.I., Nicosia, S.V., Chen, J.D., and Cheng, J.Q. Aurora-A abrogates p53 DNA-binding and transactivation activity by phosphorylation of serine-215. J. Biol. Chem. 279:52175-52182, 2004.
18. Yang, L., Dan, H.C., Sun, M., Liu, Q., Sun, X., Feldman, R.I., Hamilton, A.D., Polokoff, M., Nicosia, S.V., Herlyn, M., Sebti, S.M., and Cheng, JQ. Akt/Protein kinase B signaling inhibitor-2, a selective small molecule inhibitor of Akt signaling with antitumor activity in cancer cells overexpressing Akt.. Cancer Res. 64:4394-4399, 2004.
19. Johnson N.C., Dan, H.C., Cheng, J.Q., and Kruk, P.A. BRCA1 185delAG mutation inhibits Akt-dependent, IAP-mediated caspase 3 inactivation. Exp. Cell Res. 298:9-16, 2004.
20. Stahl, J.M., Sharma, A., Cheung, M., Zimmerman, M., Cheng, J.Q., Bosenberg, M.W., Kester, M., Sandirasegarane, L., and Roberson, G.P. Deregulation of Akt3 activity promotes development of malignant melanoma. Cancer Res. 64:7002-7010, 2004.
21. Dufour G, Demers MJ, Gagne D, Dydensborg AB, Teller IC, Bouchard V, Degongre I, Beaulieu JF, Cheng JQ, Fujita N, Tsuruo T, Vallee K, Vachon PH. Human intestinal epithelial cell survival and anoikis. Differentiation state-distinct regulation and roles of protein kinase B/Akt isoforms.
    J Biol Chem. 279:44113-44122, 2004.
22. Jiang K., Sun J., Cheng J., Djeu J.Y, Wei, S., and Sebti S.M. Akt mediates Ras downregulation of RhoB, a suppressor of transformation, invasion, and metastasis. Mol. Cell. Biol. 24:5565-5576, 2004.
23. Dan C, Sun M, Kaneko S, Feldman RI, Nicosia SV, Wang H-G, Tsang BK, Cheng JQ. Akt Phosphorylation and Stabilization of XIAP in Human Ovarian Cancer Cells. J. Biol. Chem. 279:5405-5412, 2004.
24. Yang, H., Ou, C., Feldman, FI., Nicosia, SV. Kruk, PA., and Cheng, JQ. Aurora-A Aurora-A regulates telomerase activity through c-Myc in human ovarian and breast epithelial cells. Cancer Res. 64:463-467, 2004.
25. Dan HC, Coppola D, Jinag K, Liu A, Hamilton AD, Nicosia SV, Sebti SM, Cheng JQ. Phosphatidylinositol-3-OH Kinase/Akt and Survivin Pathways as Critical Targets for Geranylgeranyltransferase I Inhibitors Induced Apoptosis. Oncogene, 23:706-715, 2004.
26. Nicosia, S.V., Willbanks, G.D., Saunders, B., Mayer, J., Cardosi, R.J., Kruk, P.A., Cheng, J.Q., Bai, W., Coppola, D., and Fiorica, J.V. Cytology of Human Ovarian Surface Epithelial Brushings. Cancer Cytopath. 102:1-10, 2004.
27. Leung BM, Fraser M, Yan X, Dan HC, Cheng JQ, Tsang BK. p53 is a determinant of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein/Akt-mediated chemoresistance in human ovarian cancer cells. Cancer Res., 63:7081-7088, 2003.
28. Sekharam M, Zhao H, Sun M, Fang Q, Zhang Q, Yuan Z, Dan HC, Boulware D, Cheng JQ, Coppola D. Insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor enhances invasion and induces resistance to apoptosis of colon cancer cells through the Akt/Bcl-x(L) pathway. Cancer Res. 63:7708-7716, 2003.
29. Sun M, Yang L, Feldman RI, Sun X, Jove R, Nicosia SV, Cheng JQ. Activation of Phosphatidylinositol-3-OH Kinase/Akt Pathway by Androgen through interaction of p85a, AR and Src. J. Biol. Chem. 278:42992-3000, 2003.
30. Iravani S, Zhang HQ, Yuan ZQ, Cheng JQ, Karl RC, Jove R, Coppola D. Modification of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor, c-Src, and Bcl-XL protein expression during the progression of barrett's neoplasia. Hum Pathol. 34:975-982, 2003.
31. Nicosia SV, Bai W, Cheng JQ, Coppola D, Kruk PA. Oncogenic pathways implicated in ovarian epithelial cancer. Hematol Oncol Clin North Am. 17:927-943, 2003.
32. Chen T, Yang I, Irby R, Shain KH, Wang HG, Quackenbush J, Coppola D, Cheng JQ, and Yeatman TJ. Regulation of caspase expression and apoptosis by adenomatous polyposis coli. Cancer Res. 63:4368-4374, 2003.
33. Yuan Z, Feldman RI, Sussman GE, Coppola D, Nicosia SV, and Cheng JQ. AKT2 inhibition of cisplatin-induced JNK/p38 and Bax activation by phosphorylation of ASK1: Implication of AKT2 in chemoresistance. J. Biol. Chem. 278:23432-13440, 2003.
34. Gritsko TM, Coppola D, Paciga JE, Yang L, Sun M, Shelley SA, Fiorica JV, Nicosia SV, Cheng JQ. Activation and overexpression of centrosome kinase BTAK/Aurora-A in human ovarian cancer. Clin Cancer Res. 9:1420-1426, 2003.