Translational Research > Prostate Cancer > Professor Youqiang Ke

The effort of Professor Ke’s team has been focused on the identification of genes involved in the malignant progression of prostate cancer and the studies on how these genes perform their biological functions within the cancer cells. They have used a “Subtractive Selection” procedure to identify the cancer-related genes with a multiple selection process. Through each round of selections, a large number of genes, which do not meet the specific criteria, are excluded from further selection. Eventually the true cancer-related genes are determined from the last remaining candidates. In the first selection, they have used three unique molecular biology approaches and successfully identified a large number of candidate genes expressed differentially between the benign and the malignant model cells.

In the second selection to verify the differences of the expression levels of candidate genes in a wider range of benign and malignant cell lines, we have developed a “reverse slot blotting” procedure which included an internal control marker and in which the entire cDNA population was radioactively labelled and used as probes to hybridize the candidate cDNA fragments. In the following selection, expression status of the candidate genes in human tissues was examined by in situ hybridization analysis. Only those genes exhibit most pronounced differences between benign and malignant human prostate tissues were subjected to gene transfection and the subsequent in vivo tests. So far, they have successfully identified and characterized a number of genes that are involved in the malignant progression of the prostate cancer cells and studied their prognostic significance and possible clinical applications. Among the genes discovered by Professor Ke’s group, three have never been previously related to any malignant diseases. They are currently investigating the possible molecular mechanisms underlying the metastasis- promoting or suppressing activities of these genes. Therapeutic potential of modulating the pathways of these genes will be explored.

Education and qualifications

Appointments

External positions

Laleh Kamalian, John R. Gosney, Shiva S. Forootan, Christopher S. Foster, Zheng Z. Bao, Carol Beesley, and Youqiang Ke.
Increased expression of Id-family proteins in small cell lung cancer and its prognostic significance. Clin. Cancer Res. 2008, 14: 2318-2325.

Morgan E, Forootan SS, Adamson J, Foster CS, Fujii H, Michihiro I, Beesley C, Smith P and Ke YQ. Expression of cutaneous fatty acid-binding protein (C-FABP) in prostate cancer: potential prognostic marker and target for tumourigenicity-suppression. Int. J. Oncol. 2008, 32:767-775.

Smith P, Morgan E, Yao S, Philip J, Beesley C, Bee A, Ke YQ, Lane B, Gosden C, and Foster CS. Effect of tamoxifen on growth of bladder cancer cells is independent of estrogen receptors but involves upregulation of bax and cyclin D1 expression. Virchows Archiv 2007, 451: 122-123.

Zhang Y, Forootan SS, Barraclough R, Foster CS, Rudland PS, Liu Dong Smith PH, and Ke YQ. The increased expression of AGR2 is significantly associated with reduced length of prostate cancer patient survival. Prostate Cancer P. D. 2007, 10: 293-300.

Forootan SS, Foster CS, Wong YC, Smith PH, Dotson A, Wang XH, Lin K, and Ke YQ. Increased Id-1 expression is significantly associated with poor survival of prostate cancer patients. Human Pathol. 2007, 38: 1321-1329.

Foster CS, Gosden CM, and Ke YQ. Tissue preservation and fixation for the optimal molecular analysis of urological tissues (I). Nature Clinical Practice Urology 2006, 3: 268-278.

Bee A, Ke YQ, Forootan S, Lin K, and Foster CS. Identification of Ribosomal Protein L19 (RPL19) as a prognostic marker of human prostate cancer. Clin. Cancer Res. 2006, 12: 2061-2065.

Forootan S, Foster CS, Archi VJ, Adamson J, Smith P, Lin K, and Ke YQ. Prognostic significance of osteopontin expression in human prostate cancer. Int. J. Cancer 2006, 118: 2255-2261.

Gomaa W, Ke YQ, Fujii H, Helliwell T. Tissue microarray of head and neck squamous carcinoma: validation of the methodology for the study of cutaneous fatty acid-binding protein, vascular endothelial growth factor, involucrin and Ki-67. Virchows Archiv 2005, 447: 701-709.

Smith P, Rhodes NP, Ke YQ, and Foster CS.  Relationship between upregulated estrogen receptors and expression of growth factors in cultured, human, prostatic stromal cells exposed to estradiol or dihydrotestosterone. Prostate Cancer P. D. 2004, 7: 57-62.

Foster CS, Gosden CM, and Ke YQ. Her/neu Expression in cancer: The pathologist as diagnostician or prophet? Human Pathol. 2003, 34: 635-638.

Adamson J, Morgan EA , Beesley C , Mei YQ , Foster CS , Fujii H, Rudland PS, Smith P, and Ke YQ. High-level expression of cutaneous fatty acid-binding protein in prostateic carcinomas and its effect on tumourigenicity. Oncogene 2003, 22: 2739-2749.

Tel: 0151 706 4515

Email: Yqk@liverpool.ac.uk