Meenhard Herlyn
Meenhard Herlyn, D.V.M., D.Sc., is a researcher who works as director of The Wistar Institute Melanoma Research in Philadelphia.[1][2][3][4] His primary research focus is the underlying biology behind melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer. Over the course of his career, he has been responsible for the use of three-dimensional artificial skin cultures to study tumor and normal cells, a clearer understanding of stem cells and how they relate to cancer, and signaling pathways related to cancer.[5] The Wistar Melanoma (WM) cell lines that Herlyn has used and helped discover in his laboratory are responsible for a better understanding of the major steps of tumor progression in human cases of melanoma.[6]
In 2003, Herlyn helped launch the first International Melanoma Research Congress in Philadelphia, the first scientific meeting specifically aimed at melanoma scientists. This was done in collaboration with the Foundation for Melanoma Research. This collaboration was prompted with his first direct melanoma patient interaction after more than two decades of research on the disease.[7] He also established the Society for Melanoma Research in 2004 and served as its president for three years.[8]
One of the more recent discoveries made by Herlyn's lab found that the diabetes drug phenformin could be used to treat certain slow-growing, drug-resistant tumor cells in melanoma.[9] In December 2013, it was announced that Herlyn and his colleagues had received a five-year, $12.5 million program project grant (PO1) to continue research on melanoma from multiple angles.[10] In May 2013, L'Oréal Paris announced that Herlyn would lead the Melanoma Research Alliance Team Science Award, which provides more than $750,000 over three years to research the prevention, treatment, and potential cures for melanoma.[11]
Select publications
- Balaburski, G.M., Leu, J.I., Beeharry, N., Hayik, S., Andrake, M.D., Zhang, G.,Herlyn, M., Villanueva, J., Dunbrack, R.L., Yen, T., George, D.L., Murphy, M.E.: A modified HSP70 inhibitor shows broad activity as an anticancer agent. Mol. Cancer Res. 11:219-229, 2013.
- Krepler, C., Chunduru, S.K., Halloran, M.B., He, X., Xiao, M., Vultur, A., Villanueva, J., Mitsuuchi, Y., Neiman, E.M., Benetatos, C., Nathanson, K.L., Amaravadi, R.K., Pehamberger, H., McKinlay, M., and Herlyn, M.: The novel SMAC inhibitor birinapant exhibits potent activity against human melanoma cells. Clin. Cancer Res. 19: 1784-1794, 2013.
- Desai, B.M., Villanueva, J., Nguyen, T-T.K., Lioni, M., Xiao, M., Kong, J., Krepler, C., Vultur, A., Flaherty, K.T., Nathanson, K.L., Smalley, K.S.M., Herlyn, M.: The anti-melanoma activity of dinaciclib, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, is dependent on p53 signaling. PLoS One, 8(3):e59588 doi:10:1371/journal.pone.0059588, 2013.
- Vultur, A., Villanueva, J., Krepler, C., Rajan, G., Chen, Q., Li, L., Gimotty, P., Wilson, M., Hayden, J., Keeney, F., Nathanson, K.L., Herlyn, M. MEK inhibition affects STAT3 signaling and invasion in human melanoma cell lines. Oncogene April 29 [Epub ahead of print], 2013.
- Aird, K.M., Zhang, G., Li, H., Tu, Z., Bitler, B.G., Garipov, A., Wu, H., Wei, Z., Wagner, S.N., Herlyn, M., Zhang, R. Suppression of nucleotide metabolism underlies the establishment and maintenance of oncogene-induced senescence. Cell Rep. 3:1-4, 2013.
References
- ↑ "Meenhard Herlyn, D.V.M., D.Sc.". The Wistar Institute. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
- ↑ "The Wistar Institute Launches New Melanoma Research Center". The Wistar Institute. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
- ↑ "Meenhard Herlyn, DVM, DSc.". ReachMD. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
- ↑ "Meenhard Herlyn, DVM, D.Sc.". Penn Medicine. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
- ↑ "Meenhard Herlyn". Pigment Cell Melanoma Research. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
- ↑ Chapter 14: Melanoma: The Wistar Melanoma (WM) Cell Lines. Cancer Cell Lines Part 1: Cancer Cell Lines. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
- ↑ "A life behind life science". The Scientist. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
- ↑ "Meenhard Herlyn". Pigment Cell Melanoma Research. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
- ↑ "Diabetes Plus Anticancer Drug Combination Targets Melanoma Cells Unresponsive to Standard Treatments". Cancer Commons. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
- ↑ "$12.5 Million, Five-year Research Grant Allows Scientists to Tackle Melanoma from Multiple Angles". The Wistar Institute. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
- ↑ "L'Oréal Paris teams up with Melanoma Research Alliance to battle melanoma". Drug Store News. Retrieved 14 February 2014.