School of Biomedical Sciences and School of Biological Sciences cordially invite you to join the following seminar:

Date: 22 November 2023 (Wednesday)
Time: 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, G/F, William M.W. Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road

Speaker: Professor Amy Lee, Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Medicine; Judy and Larry Freeman Chair in Basic Science Cancer Research, Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Southern California
Talk Title: Critical roles of stress-inducible ER Chaperone GRP78/BiP in cancer and COVID-19

Host: Professor Alice Wong

Biography

Professor Amy Lee is Freeman Chair of Basic Science and Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at the University of Southern California (USC) Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, California. Professor Lee obtained her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and her Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California. Professor Lee is currently holder of the Judy and Larry Freeman Cosmetics Chair in Basic Science in Cancer Research at USC. Professor Lee’s research focuses on the mammalian stress response and molecular chaperones. Her laboratory is the first to clone the genes coding for a set of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-inducible glucose regulated proteins (GRPs) and has made numerous discoveries in understanding how these genes are regulated and their role in development and human diseases. Professor Lee’s laboratory established that GRP78 is a major contributor for tumorigenesis, metastatic growth and drug resistance. Through creation of conditional mouse models of GRP78, her laboratory provides direct proof that partial reduction of GRP78, while having no effect on normal organ function, is sufficient to halt cancer progression in vivo. GRP78 is now recognized as a novel cancer therapeutic target with dual function in tumor progression as well as tumor angiogenesis and a novel prognostic marker for tumor virulence and disease recurrence.

With the recent discovery of stress-induced translocation of GRP78 to the cell surface and the nucleus, her lab is investigating the basic mechanisms and the physiological consequences. With the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Lee’s laboratory has also made seminal discoveries on the role of GRP78 in SARS-CoV-2 viral entry and production.

For her research achievements, Professor Lee received the MERIT Award from the National Cancer Institute. In recognition of her pioneering work on ER stress and its impact on cell and cancer biology, she was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences (AAAS).

Abstract
GRP78/BiP is a key molecular chaperone and regulator of the unfolded protein response. This talk introduces new molecular mechanisms by which cancer cells respond to stress through translocation of GRP78 from the endoplasmic reticulum to the cell surface and nucleus, where it assumes novel functions in oncogenic signaling and transcriptional regulation. GRP78/BiP is also a critical host auxiliary factor for SARS-CoV-2. Here we describe how drugs targeting GRP78/BiP can dually suppress cancer and COVID-19.

All are welcome.