Date Available

5-6-2018

Year of Publication

2016

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College

Medicine

Department/School/Program

Toxicology and Cancer Biology

Advisor

Dr. Qiou Wei

Co-Director of Graduate Studies

Dr. Xianglin Shi

Abstract

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality irrespective of gender. The Sulfiredoxin (Srx) and Peroxiredoxin (Prx) are a group of thiol-based antioxidant proteins that plays an essential role in non-small cell lung cancer. Understanding the molecular characteristics of the Srx-Prx interaction may help design the strategies for future development of therapeutic tools. Based on existing literature and preliminary data from our lab, we hypothesized that the Srx plays a critical role in lung carcinogenesis and targeting the Srx-Prx axis or Srx alone may facilitate future development of targeted therapeutics for prevention and treatment of lung cancer. First, we demonstrated the oncogenic role of Srx in urethane-induced lung carcinogenesis in genetically modified FVB mice. The Srx-null mice showed resistance to urethane-induced lung cancer. Second, we demonstrated the Srx and Prx sites important for Srx-Prx interaction. The orientation of this arm is demonstrated to cause some steric hindrance for the Srx-Prx interaction as it substantially reduces the rate of association between Srx and Prx. Finally, we carried out virtual screening to identify molecules that can successfully target Srx-Prx interaction. Multiple in-silico filters were used to minimize the number of chemicals to be tested. We identified ISO1 as an inhibitor of the Srx-Prx interaction. KD value for Srx-ISO1 interaction is calculated to be 42 nM. Together, these data helps to identify an inhibitor (ISO1) of the Srx-Prx interaction that can be further pursued to be developed as a chemotherapeutic tool.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

http://dx.doi.org/10.13023/ETD.2016.177

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