MUSC's Center for Molecular and Structural Biology (CMSB) has been awarded a total of $6,645,935 in federal funding to study the molecular and genetic bases of cancer.

The announcement is being made today, Oct. 30, by Peatsy Hollings, wife of U.S. Sen. Ernest F. Hollings.

“We are pleased to receive this funding for our cancer research efforts, and it is especially fitting for Mrs. Hollings to make this announcement on her husband’s behalf,” said MUSC president Dr. James B. Edwards. “Senator Hollings was instrumental in obtaining $16 million in funding for our cancer center which was named in his honor. Also, in 1993, he helped us in our efforts to recruit Dr. Takis Papas from his post at the National Cancer Institute to come to MUSC to found and head our Center for Molecular and Structural Biology where this research will be conducted.”

Two separate five-year grants were awarded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The first is in the amount of $1,423,596. It will support studies on a specific gene, p42-ETSl, that is involved in programmed cell death of cancer cells. “This gene has important implications for the future of cancer therapy,” said Takis Papas, Ph.D., director of the Center for Molecular and Structural Biology and principal investigator for the two grants. “The ability of this gene to kill cancer cells by activating the programmed cell death pathway, which is damaged in most cancer cells, opens the potential uses for treatment of breast, colon, lung, prostate, ovarian and other epithelial cancers.”

Papas and Dennis Watson, Ph.D., co-principal investigator on this grant, are currently working with the CMSB research team to develop the necessary pre-clinical date and the procedure for clinical trials that will be carried out by the CMSB clinical faculty.

The second grant is a program project grant in the amount of $5,222,339. This project involves a study of an important specific family of genes, the ets genes. This family, which was originally discovered in Papas’ laboratory while he was at the National Cancer Institute, plays a role in the development of the immune system, the blood system, brain tissue, and bone and cartilage in normal human development. Damage of these genes can lead to diseases such as leukemia, solid tumors and Down syndrome.

Papas said that his group will study the interplay of these genes and attempt to answer the following questions: Why do these genes occur as a family? What are functions of these genes? Can one member of the family replace another? What are the roles of the genes in the development and control of cancer? And what are the roles of these genes in normal and abnormal embryo development?

Both grants have received extremely high priority scores from the granting agency, with the first one being the highest ranked grant among those reviewed during the NIH/NCI review period. “The high priority scores obtained for these two grants indicates the high quality and competitive excellence of the work being carried out in the CMSB,” said Edwards.

Papas anticipates that these grants will result in the filing of patents. “These patents will form the intellectual property basis for establishment of new therapeutics companies, and will seed the development of new biotech businesses for South Carolina. “More importantly, however, our findings will hopefully provide for better methods of prevention and treatment of the second leading killer of individuals in South Carolina and our nation.”