Muralidharan Anbalagan, PhD

Muralidharan Anbalagan, PhD

Assistant Professor

As a scientist focusing on translatingresearch to develop novel therapeutic avenues, I have established a trackrecord of success with many peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals.My background and expertise are in understanding the molecular mechanisms ofnuclear hormone receptor action in human breast carcinoma cells and tumorsystems and testing novel therapeutics for breast cancer. One of my ongoingworks focuses on post-translational modifications of estrogen receptor alpha,particularly phosphorylation. I have dedicated significant researchinvestigating the role of cell signaling pathways, specifically the Src kinasepathway, in regulating ER-mediated gene activation in breast cancer cells. Ihave tested novel therapeutics directed against specific signaling pathways inbreast cancer. Based on our work on KX-01, a peptidomimetic dual Src andtubulin inhibitor, a Phase II clinical trial has been started in breast cancerpatients.

Oneof our significant accomplishments measured Src Kinase levels and activity inbreast cancer specimens from African American and Caucasian breast cancerpatients. In 2019, I was funded by the Louisiana Clinical & TranslationalScience (LA CaTS) to study the disruption of circadian melatonin signal by dimlight at night promotes bone lytic breast cancer metastases. In collaborationwith Dr. Brian Rowan, Chair of the Department of Structural and CellularBiology, Tulane SOM, and Dr. Robert Gensure at TuftsUniversity, we have started working on the preclinicaldevelopment of novel parathyroid hormone-related peptide antagonists for breastcancer. We are completing a project verifyingthe in-vivo effects of these compounds, which demonstrated markedsuppression of breast tumor metastatic growth into bone. We now look forward toexpanding these studies to move these compounds closer to clinical trials, withfurther structure/function optimization, determining optimal dosing and doseintervals, looking at efficacy in more clinically relevant tumor models, andexamining for immunogenicity with repeated use. We look forward to continuingthese investigations to develop superior therapeutics for cancer metastasis tobone.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5797-7558

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/muralidharan.anbalagan.1/bibliography/public/

Anbalagan M, Carrier L, Glodowski S, Hangauer D,Shan B, Rowan BG. KX-01, a novel Src kinase inhibitordirected toward the peptide substrate site, synergizes with tamoxifen inestrogen receptor alpha-positive breastcancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2012 Apr;132(2):391-409.  PMID: 21509526.

Anbalagan M, Ali A, Jones RK, Marsden CG, ShengM, Carrier L, Bu Y, Hangauer D, Rowan BG. Peptidomimetic Src/pretubulininhibitor KX-01 alone and in combination with paclitaxel suppresses growth,metastasis in human ER/PR/HER2-negative tumor xenografts. Mol Cancer Ther. 2012 Sep;11(9):1936-47. 

Anbalagan M, Moroz K, Ali A, Carrier L,Glodowski S, Rowan BG. Subcellular localization of total andactivated Src kinase in African American and Caucasian breast cancer. PLoS One. 2012;7(3):e33017.

Anbalagan M,Sheng M, Fleischer B, Zhang Y, Gao Y, Hoang V, Matossian M, Burks HE, Burow ME,Collins-Burow BM, Hangauer D, Rowan BG. Dual Src Kinase/Pretubulin Inhibitor KX-01, SensitizesERα-negative Breast Cancers to Tamoxifen through ERα Reexpression. MolCancer Res. 2017 Nov;15(11):1491-1502. 

Ponnapakkam T*, Anbalagan M*,Stratford RE Jr, Rowan BG, Gensure RC. Novel bone-targeted parathyroidhormone-related peptide antagonists inhibit breast cancer bone metastases.Anticancer Drugs. 2021 Apr 1;32(4):365-375. PMID: 33595947. (*Equalcontribution)

Key Words:

Breast Cancer, Estrogen receptoralpha, Bone metastasis, parathyroid hormone antagonists

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Suresh K. Alahari PhD
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Ashad Alam, MD, PhD
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Muralidharan Anbalagan, PhD
Translational Oncology
Tulane University School of Medicine
Wayne L. Backes PhD
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