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Brian G. Rowan, Ph.D.
  • Associate Professor and Chair, Structural & Cellular Biology
  • Gerald & Flora Jo Mansfield Piltz Endowed Professor of Cancer Research
  •  
  • browan@tulane.edu
  • 504-988-1365
  • School of Medicine
Brian Rowan, PhD

Education

  • 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.

Circadian regulation of estrogen receptor function: 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 in breast cancer.  The impact of the circadian cycle on estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) function is unknown. Artificial light at night is classified as a "probable human carcinogen" that contributes to circadian disruption. Extending this concept to estrogen receptor function during circadian disruption, in collaboration with Dr. Steven Hill female nude rats were implanted with “tissue-isolated” MCF-7 breast cancer xenografts that were housed in light boxes at 12/light:12/dark or exposed to dim light (0.2 lux) during the dark phase. Exposure to dim light resulted in markedly increased tumor growth and de novo resistance to tamoxifen that coincided with elevation of specific ERα phosphorylation sites. These results demonstrated that phosphorylation of ERα at specific sites is a direct outcome of circadian disruption (Cancer Research, 2014). We have further demonstrated that ERα phosphorylation is regulated by the circadian system using both in vitro and in vivo models.  Our research will discern the mechanisms of circadian control of ERα function and the reciprocal control of the peripheral clocks by ERα.

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...

Publications

  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

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...