Seema Agarwal PhD, PhD, MSc
Associate Research Scientist in Pathology
Research Interests
Cellular and molecular biology; classical genetics and functional genomics; signal transduction; drug screening for cancer therapeutics and cancer stem cells.
Current Projects
- Growth and detailed characterization of cancer stem cells from patient samples
- Identification of cancer stem cell markers using IF-based AQUA technology
- Role of nuclear Met in cancer growth and metastasis
Research Summary
Interested in understanding how a normal cell turns into a cancer cell. Interested in cancer initiation, cancer drug targets, drug combinations and drug resistance. Special interest in understanding how cancer stem cells play a role in cancer initiation, cancer relapse, and cancer growth.
Extensive Research Description
Signal transduction involving cross talks and interactions between various receptor tyrosine kinases with main emphasis on EGF and Met receptor families and their role in cancer progression and metastasis; Role of NFkB in cancer progression and metastasis; identification of cancer stem cell markers by using AQUA (automated quantitative analysis)-based immunofluorescence technique; growth, functional properties and detailed molecular, cellular and genetic characterization of cancer stem cells derived from patient samples; identification of drug targets specific for cancer stem cells.
Selected Publications
- S. Agarwal, C. Zerillo, J. Kolmakova, J.G. Christensen, L.N. Harris, D.L. Rimm, M.P. DiGiovanna, D.F. Stern. 2009. Association of constitutively activated hepatocyte growth factor receptor (Met) with resistance to a dual EGFR/HER2 inhibitor in non-small-cell lung cancer cells. BJC, 100, 941.
- G. Kaur, M. Hollingshead, S. Holbeck, V. Schauer-Vukasinovic, R. Camalier, A. Doemling, S. Agarwal. 2006. Biological evaluation of TubulysinA: a potential anticancer and antiangiogenic natural product. Biochem J, 396, 235.
- W. Antuch, S. Menon, S. Sakakmuri, Y. Lu, Q.-Z. Chen, B. Beck, V. Schauer-Vukasinovic, S. Agarwal, S. Hess, A. Domling. 2006. Design and modular parallel synthesis of a MCR derived alpha-helix mimetic protein-protein interaction inhibitor scaffold. Bioorg Med Chem Lett, 16, 1740.
- J. K.-Stankiewicz, I. Hakimi, C. Zhi, J. Zhang, I. Serebriiskii, L. Guo, H. Edamatsu, H. Koide, S. Menon, S. Sakamuri, Y. Lu, Q.-Z. Chen, S. Agarwal, W.R. Baumbach, E. Golemis, F. Tamanoi, V. Khazak. 2002. Inhibitors of Ras/Raf-1 interactions identified by two-hybrid screening revert Rasdependent transformation phenotypes in human cancer cells. PNAS, 99, 14398.
- A. Kumar, S. Agarwal, J.A. Heyman, S. Matson, M. Heidtman, S. Piccirillo, L. Umansky, A. Drawid, R. Jansen, Y. Liu, K.H. Cheung, P. Miller, M. Gerstein, G.S. Roeder and M. Snyder. 2002. Subcellular localization of the yeast proteome. Genes & Development, 16, 707.
- S. Agarwal, and G.S. Roeder. 2000. Zip3 provides a link between recombination enzymes and synaptonemal complex proteins. Cell, 102, 245.
- P. Ross-Macdonald, P.S.R. Coelho, T. Roemer, S. Agarwal, A. Kumar, R. Jansen, K. -H. Cheung, A. Sheehan, D. Symoniatis, L. Umansky, M. Heidtman, K. Nelson, H. Iwasaki, K. Hager, P. Miller, M. Gerstein, G.S. Roeder, and M. Snyder. 1999. Large-scale analysis of the yeast genome by transposon tagging and gene disruption. Nature, 402, 413.
- S. Agarwal and M.J. Behe. 1996. Nonconservative mutations are well-tolerated in the globular region of yeast histone H4. J. Mol. Biol., 255, 401.
