The main goals of my research program are 1) to elucidate molecular and biochemical mechanisms that govern mammalian cell kinetics; and 2) to apply know ledge of such mechanisms to the detection and treatment of human cancers. We have engineered cell lines to express physiologic levels of the wild-type p53 tumor suppressor protein conditionally. Upon p53 expression, the cells switch from exponential division kinetics to asymmetric division kinetics, producing one dividing cell and one non-dividing quiescent cell at each division. These specialized cells are a model system for investigations of mechanisms that control asymmetric division by somatic stem cells in vivo. Their unique properties are the focus of laboratory and clinical investigations of critical relationships between asymmetric cell kinetics, p53, and cancer.

Liu, Y., Bohn, S. A., and Sherley, J. L. (1998) "Inosine-5'-Monophosphate Dehydrogenase is a Rate-Determining Factor for p53-Dependent Growth Regulation," Molecular Biology of the Cell 9,15-28.

Pew Scholar Award in Biomedical Sciences 1993