Group Members

Michael Beaulieu
Miranda Brun
Tina Gao
Devon Germain
Darryl Glubrecht
Matthew Hildebrandt
Sachin Katyal
Lei Li
Lucy Li
Rong-Zong Liu
Raja Mita
Elizabeth Monckton
Mary Packer

Raja Rita (B. Sc.), PhD. Student

                           

Research Project: Brain fatty acid binding protein (B-FABP) is a member of a family of proteins implicated in cancer formation and cellular differentiation. B-FABP is believed to bind to fatty acid ligands such as docosahexanoic acid (DHA) and deliver these ligands to nuclear receptors implicated in transcriptional regulation. Previous work from the lab has shown that B-FABP is expressed in malignant glioma tumours and cell lines. As malignant glioma tumours are highly aggressive and invasive, we need to find new approaches for the treatment of these cancers. I am studying how B-FABP expression affects the growth properties of malignant glioma cells. I am particularly interested in determining whether B-FABP expression leads to increased invasiveness and cell motility.


Techniques: confocal microscopy, tissue culture, motility assays, protein extraction, western blot analysis, yeast two-hybrid analysis

 


Presentations:

Mita, R., Roy, K., Rowe, J., Coles, J., Dabbagh, L., Hao, C and Godbout, R. Subcellular localization of brain fatty acid-binding protein in malignant glioma. Alberta Cancer Board Annual Research Meeting, Banff, Alberta (2004).

Mita, R. and Godbout, R. Subcellular localization of brain fatty acid-binding protein in malignant glioma. ACB Research Meeting, Banff, Alberta (2005).

Mita, R., Coles, J.E., Sung, R. and Godbout, R. Subcellular localization of brain fatty acid-binding protein in malignant glioma. ACB Research Meeting, Banff, Alberta (2006)

Mita, R., Coles, J.E., Glubrecht, D. and Godbout, R. Expression of B-FABP enhances migration of malignant glioma cells. The 6th Conference on Lipid Binding Proteins, Vancouver, BC (2007)

Publications:

Mita, R. Coles, J.E., Glubrecht, D., Sung, R. Sun, X. and Godbout, R. B-FABP-expressing radial glial cells – the malignant glioma cell-of-origin?  Neoplasia 9: 734-377 (2007).

Awards
CIHR Translational Research Training in Cancer fellowship
Poster award - The 6th Conference on Lipid Binding Proteins, Vancouver, BC (2007)