ARC contact information:
263 – Warren General Hospital Medical Research Laboratory
259 – Ohio Osteopathic Foundation Medical Research Laboratory
202C – Office
Home page: www.oucom.ohiou.edu/dbms-benencia/

Cancer

Tumor growth

Dr. Benencia is studying how tumors attract leukocytes, or white blood cells, from bone marrow precursors and use them for their own designs.

“Bone-marrow stem cells normally turn into leukocytes that help the body fight infection,” Benencia says. But once recruited by the tumor, “sometimes they (abandon) their immune function or even help the tumor to grow.”

So far, his NIH-funded research has demonstrated that bone marrow precursors grow in cultures only when “tumor-conditioned” materials are present. Benencia and his team have also confirmed that under the influence of tumors, these bone marrow precursors produce factors that can contribute to the development of new blood vessels, which help to nourish tumors.

Breast cancer

This project involves specific cellular proteins called chemokines and the role they play in the development of breast cancer. A grant has been submitted for funding to build on work that Amritha Kalyani Venkatesh, a biomedical engineering master’s candidate, performs in Benencia’s lab.

“This work would not have been possible without the help that we have received from the BME program under the direction of Professor Douglas Goetz, at the Russ College of Engineering,” Benencia says.

Ovarian cancer

Dr. Benencia has applied for funding for a study of VEGF receptor signaling on dendritic cell vaccines for ovarian cancer.

Immune function

Dr. Benencia and chemical engineer Monica Burdick, Ph.D., from the Russ College of Engineering and Technology are studying dendritic cells, leukocytes that make up part of the mammalian immune system.

They are looking at the effects of the extracellular matrix (i.e. non-cellular part of connective tissue that provides structural and other support to cells) on the biology of dendritic cells. Based on preliminary studies, Dr. Benencia has submitted a proposal for grant funding to the National Science Foundation to continue this research.

The researchers also have submitted two NIH proposals that deal with the engineering of dendritic cell-based vaccines.

Dr. Malgor also is researching the presence of Wnt5a in urothelial bladder carcinoma cells lines. The research, currently funded by an internal OU-COM grant, focuses on the role that Wnt-5a plays in the development of urothelial carcinoma, the most common cancer in the urinary bladder.

Pancreatic cancer/C-10

Diabetes

Diabetes/C10

Diabetic kidney damage/Growth hormone

Diabetic nephropathy/Genes and Pathways

Investigators are examining the role of phenylmethimazole, or C10, as a new therapeutic for the treatment of diabetes. C10 blocks proteins called toll-like receptors (TLR) that activate immune cell responses. Incorrectly functioning toll-like receptors cause inappropriate immune responses that can, in turn, cause autoimmune diseases. C10, if developed as a therapeutic, could be a promising new treatment for diabetes and other autoimmune diseases. Dr. McCall, who is co-PI on the project, is working with Doug Goetz, Ph.D., co-PI, of the Russ College of Engineering and Technology; biochemists Mark McMills, Ph.D., and Stephen Bergmeier, Ph.D.—both of the College of Arts and Sciences; and Ramiro Malgor, Ph.D., and Calvin James, Ph.D., of the College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Atherosclerosis