Brian G. Rowan, Ph.D.

Associate Professor and Chair, Structural & Cellular Biology

Gerald & Flora Jo Mansfield Piltz Endowed Professor of Cancer Research, Tulane Cancer Center Member - Cancer Biology Research Program
Phone
504-988-1365
School of Medicine
Department
Structural Cellular Biology
Center Circadian Biology
Stem Cell Research Regenerative Med
Tulane Cancer Center
Debakey
Brian Rowan, PhD

Education & Affiliations

Ph.D. 1994, Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Therapeutics, Roswell Park Cancer Institute
Postdoctoral, Baylor College of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Rowan received his Ph.D. in pharmacology and cancer therapeutics from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1994. His thesis research involved Structural and Functional Characterization of Glucocorticoid Receptors in the P1798 Mouse Lymphosarcoma. From 1994 - 2000, he was a postdoctoral fellow in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. In 2000, he joined the faculty of the Medical College of Ohio in Toledo as an assistant professor in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department. Dr. Rowan has several awards to his credit, including the Sigma Xi Award for Excellence in Research, 1988, and the American Association for Cancer Research Young Investigator Scholar Award, 1999 and 2000. He is a reviewer for numerous medical journals, including Cancer Research, Endocrinology, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Molecular Cell, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Molecular Endocrinology, PNAS and Steroids, and is a member of the American Association for Cancer Research and the Endocrine Society. Dr. Rowan joined the Tulane University Health Sciences Center faculty as Associate Professor in the Department of Structural and Cellular Biology in 2005. His research seeks to define the molecular mechanisms governing steroid receptor action in normal and disease states of female reproductive tissues with the aim of developing new therapies and improving existing therapies for breast cancer, gynecological malignancies, contraception and postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy. Additional research areas include experimental therapeutics for estrogen receptor negative breast cancer, circadian regulation of estrogen receptor function, and adipocyte stem cells in reconstructive surgery and soft tissue repair.

Brian Rowan, Ph.D. is the Gerald & Flora Jo Mansfield Piltz Endowed Professor of Cancer Research for Tulane Cancer Center. He has studied molecular mechanisms of nuclear receptor function for over 25 years with an emphasis on estrogen receptor.

Research

Estrogen receptor phosphorylation: A major focus of the laboratory is understanding the role of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) phosphorylation in regulating receptor function and the mechanisms by which signaling pathway kinases/phosphatases alter function. Our studies identify phosphorylation fingerprints for ERα and coregulators that impact tumor growth, migration/metastasis and response to endocrine therapy (J. Biol. Chem., 2000; Mol.Cell.Biol., 2000; Molecular Endocrinology, 2005, Molecular Endocrinology 2007, Endocrine Related Cancer 2010, Endocrinology, 2011, Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2015). Related to these studies, we have also have examined active kinase expression (Clinical Cancer Research, 2004, PLoS One, 2012) and coregulator expression (Gynecologic Oncology, 2004) in normal and cancerous tissue. We have also demonstrated that targeted disruption of one phosphorylation site in ERα resulted in breast cancer cells that exhibited increased growth, migration and tumor formation (Endocrinology, 2012). Another research emphasis is on novel phosphorylation sites in ERα (BMC Biochemistry 2009). These collective studies will provide the mechanistic groundwork for rational design of preclinical therapeutic combinations of endocrine therapy (selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) and aromatase inhibitors (AIs)) with agents that block or activate specific kinase signaling pathways. To this end we have evaluated the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of a clinical Src kinase inhibitor, KXO1, in combination with tamoxifen for estrogen receptor positive breast cancer (Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 2012). Our ongoing work will continue to discern molecular mechanisms by which altered ERα phosphorylation impacts breast cancer growth/metastasis and normal physiological systems.

Experimental therapeutics for breast cancer: Breast cancer metastasis to bone is a major source of morbidity and mortality in patients. The local erosion of bone increases the risk of fracture and decreases the mean survival time. Drugs that could prevent bone metastatic breast cancer would significantly reduce the mortality of this disease. Breast cancer bone metastases secrete high local concentrations of a parathyroid hormone (PTH) analog termed parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP). PTHrP stimulates osteoblasts to activate osteoclasts causing bone turnover that releases stored tumor-promoting growth factors, and creates cavities in bone allowing the tumor to grow in the resulting space. We have synthesized two novel classes of PTHrP antagonists that are fused to the inert collagen binding domain (CBD) of ColG collagenase from Clostridium histolyticum. The CBD directs the concentration of the drugs to the bone and provide competitive blockade of PTHrP produced locally by invading tumor cells, thereby preventing bone turnover and release of tumor stimulating factors.

Ongoing studies will determine the optimal dosing/schedule for these agents, continue to discern the mechanisms of action, and identify surrogate biomarkers for drug efficacy with the goal of rapid advance of these agents to clinical trials with breast cancer patients.

Contributions

  1. Human adipose tissue-derived stromal/stem cells promote migration and early metastasis of head & neck cancer. Rowan, B.G.*, Gimble, J.M., Sheng, M., Anbalagan, M, Jones, R.K., Frazier, T.P., Asher, M., Lacayo, E.A., Kutner, R., Chiu, E.S, Friedlander, P.L. Aesthetic Surgery Journal 2015. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 26063833.
     
  2. Estrogen receptor alpha phosphorylation and its functional impact in human breast cancer. Anbalagan M, Rowan BG. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2015 Jan 15. [Epub ahead of print] Review. PMID: 25597633
     
  3. Circadian and melatonin disruption by exposure to light at night drives intrinsic resistance to tamoxifen therapy in breast cancer. Dauchy RT, Xiang S, Mao L, Brimmer S, Wren MA, Yuan L, Anbalgang M, Hauch A, Frasch T, Rowan BG, Blask DE, Hill SM. Cancer Res. 2014 Aug 1;74(15):4099-110. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-13-3156. PMID: 25062775.
     
  4. Human adipose-derived Stromal/stem Cells induce functional CD4+CD25+FoxP3+CD127- regulatory T cells under low oxygen culture. Trivia P. Frazier, James McLachlan, Jeffrey M. Gimble, Hugh A. Tucker, and Brian G. Rowan. 2014 Stem Cells Dev. 2014 Mar 11. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 24405386
     
  5. Human adipose tissue-derived stromal/stem cells promote migration and early metastasis of triple negative breast cancer xenografts. Rowan, B.G.*, Gimble, J.M., Sheng, M., Anbalagan, M, Jones, R.K., Frazier, T.P., Asher, M., Lacayo, E.A., Friedlander, P.L., Kutner, R., Chiu, E.S.*. (2014) PLoS One. 2014 Feb 28;9(2). PMID:24586900
     
  6. Impact of low oxygen on the secretome of Human Adipose-derived Stromal/stem Cell Primary Cultures. Trivia P. Frazier, Jeffrey M. Gimble, Indu Kheterpal, and Brian G. Rowan. 2013. Biochimie. 2013 Dec;95(12):2286-96. doi: 10.1016/j.biochi.2013.07.011. Epub 2013 Jul 20. PMID:23880643
     
  7. Body mass index affects proliferation and differentiation of human subcutaneous adipose tissue-derived stem cells. Frazier TP, Gimble JM, Devay J, Tucker HA, Chiu ES, Rowan BG (2013). BMC Cell Biol. 2013 Aug 7;14:34. doi: 10.1186/1471-2121-14-34. PMID:2392418
     
  8. Stable Inhibition of Specific Estrogen Receptor α (ERα) Phosphorylation Confers Increased Growth, Migration/Invasion, and Disruption of Estradiol Signaling in MCF-7 Breast Cancer Cells. Huderson BP, Duplessis TT, Williams CC, Seger HC, Marsden CG, Pouey KJ, Hill SM, Rowan BG. Endocrinology. 2012 153(9):4144-59. PMID: 22733972
     
  9. Peptidomimetic Src/pretubulin inhibitor KX-01 (KX2-391) as a single agent and in combination with paclitaxel suppresses growth and metastasis in human ER/PR/HER2-negative tumor xenografts in NUDE mice. Muralidharan Anbalagan, Alaa Ali, Ryan Jones, Carolyn Marsden, Mei Sheng, Latonya Carrier, Yahoa Bu, David Hangauer and Brian G. Rowan (2012). Mol Cancer Ther. 2012 Sep;11(9):1936-47. PMID: 2278470
     
  10. A novel in vivo model for the study of human breast cancer metastasis using primary breast tumor-initiating cells from patient biopsies. Marsden CG, Wright MJ, Carrier L, Moroz K, Pochampally R, Rowan BG. BMC Cancer. 2012 Jan 10;12:10. PMID: 22233382
     
  11. Post-translational modifications of nuclear receptors and human disease. Anbalagan M, Huderson B, Murphy L, Rowan BG. Nucl Recept Signal. 2012;10:e001. Epub 2012 Feb 27. Review. PMID: 22438791
     
  12. Disseminated breast cancer cells acquire a highly malignant and aggressive metastatic phenotype during metastatic latency in the bone. Carolyn G. Marsden, Mary Jo Wright, Latonya Carrier, Krzysztof Moroz, and Brian G. Rowan (2012). PLoS One. 2012;7(11):e47587. PMID:23173031
     
  13. Phosphorylation of Estrogen Receptor α at serine 118 directs recruitment of promoter complexes and gene-specific transcription. Duplessis TT, Williams CC, Hill SM, Rowan BG. Endocrinology. 2011 Jun;152(6):2517-26. Epub 2011 Apr 19. PMID: 21505052
     
  14. Identification of four novel phosphorylation sites in estrogen receptor alpha: impact on receptor-dependent gene expression and phosphorylation by protein kinase CK2. Williams CC, Basu A, El-Gharbawy A, Carrier LM, Smith CL, Rowan BG. BMC Biochem. 2009 Dec 31;10:36. PMID: 20043841
     
  15. Protein kinase A exhibits selective modulation of estradiol-dependent transcription in breast cancer cells that is associated with decreased ligand binding, altered estrogen receptor alpha promoter interaction, and changes in receptor phosphorylation. Al-Dhaheri MH, Rowan BG. Mol Endocrinol. 2007 Feb;21(2):439-56. Epub 2006 Oct 26. PMID: 17068199
     
  16. The Src kinase pathway promotes tamoxifen agonist action in Ishikawa endometrial cells through phosphorylation-dependent stabilization of estrogen receptor (alpha) promoter interaction and elevated steroid receptor coactivator 1 activity. Shah YM, Rowan BG. Mol Endocrinol. 2005 Mar;19(3):732-48. Epub 2004 Nov 4. PMID: 15528270
     
  17. SRC kinase and mitogen-activated protein kinases in the progression from normal to malignant endometrium. Desouki MM, Rowan BG. Clin Cancer Res. 2004 Jan 15;10(2):546-55. PMID: 14760076
     
  18. Phosphorylation of steroid receptor coactivator-1. Identification of the phosphorylation sites and phosphorylation through the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway. Rowan BG, Weigel NL, O'Malley BW. J Biol Chem. 2000 Feb 11;275(6):4475-83. PMID: 10660621

View Pubmed listing of Dr. Rowan’s research publications