Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, Maryland
Professor of Oncology Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
Revealing the molecular links between obesity, the microbiome, and breast cancer and developing strategies to disrupt them.
Obesity is correlated with increased breast cancer risk. The prevalence of obesity in the United States and increasing rates observed worldwide make it a global health crisis. Dr. Sharma and her team study the molecular changes induced by obesity that promote breast cancer development, progression, and metastasis. They also focus on the intersections between obesity and the microbiome (the bacteria that reside throughout our body). Many studies found that the complex makeup of the microbiome changes with disease or other alterations to our physiology— including obesity—and these changes in bacterial populations may have profound effects on the body. Dr. Sharma’s team is working to reveal how obesity, and obesity-induced changes in the microbiome, may influence breast cancer.
Obesity leads to high levels of leptin, the hormone that regulates hunger. Dr. Sharma and her team have shown that chronically elevated leptin levels are a major factor in cancer initiation, growth, and metastasis. They have shown the efficacy of a selected group of bioactive compounds in blocking breast tumor growth and metastasis in laboratory models. They have also observed an important role of mammary gland fat cells in promoting tumor growth and are investigating strategies to block this effect.
Dr. Sharma’s team will continue to examine obesity-driven changes in breast tumor microenvironment to elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms and develop preventive and therapeutic strategies to reprogram these multifaceted networks. The team has discovered both tumor promoting and protective microbiome populations. Together, these proposed studies will help develop better prevention and treatment strategies.
“If not for BCRF, we would not be able to ask innovative high-risk, high-gain questions and push the breast cancer research field forward. BCRF allows us to be bold and follow important “out-of-the-box” ideas and bring them to fruition.”
Dipali Sharma, PhD is a Professor in the Department of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. She obtained her doctorate in Molecular Biology and Oncology from the University of Delhi. She then completed fellowships at both the University of Maryland and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The prevalence of obesity, an epidemic of major proportions in the United States today, has risen steadily over the last several decades. Research on the biological mechanisms underpinning the link between cancer and obesity is clearly a vitally important area, with major implications for both public health and fundamental cancer research. Dr. Sharma focuses on investigating the molecular links between obesity and cancer, emphasizing aspects that have potential clinical significance. Her studies on obesity-related hormones, adipocytokines, showed that leptin promotes the proliferative response and metastatic potential as well as modulates the expression of various genes involved in cell cycle, apoptosis and metastasis. Her lab is exploring the genes, molecules, hormones and cellular processes that could cause and promote cancer in obese people. Using various physiologically relevant models and cell lines, their aim is to find molecular targets that can be disrupted to break the obesity-cancer axis. She is exploring new strategies to disrupt the obesity-cancer connection using novel small molecule inhibitors as well as bioactive food components. Her overall goal is to understand the molecular networks by which obesity affects carcinogenesis and discover novel agents to effectively disrupt obesity-cancer axis.
2011
The GHOST Award
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