Weekly Assignment
Students are expected to have read the papers in advance and be prepared to discuss the selected papers in class.
Midterm Assignment (due in Week #6)
This assignment will consist of writing an abstract for a research article. Students will be given the results, materials and methods, figures and tables of a research article. Each student will be asked to write a comprehensive 250-word abstract that summarizes the results of the key experiments and the main conclusions. The abstract should aim to put the specific findings in a more general perspective, as well.
Final assignment (Week #13)
Each student will prepare an oral presentation from a selection of papers listed below. The presentation will contain a brief introduction, a description of the experimental methods used, and a detailed discussion of key experiments and controls. The presentations will be given to the entire group. Students will be encouraged to actively participate in the discussions following each presentation.
Li, J., R. Sainson, W. Shi, R. Leek, L. Harrington, M. Preusser, S. Biswas, H. Turley, E. Heikamp, J. Hainfellner, and A. Harris. "Delta-like 4 Notch Ligand Regulates Tumor Angiogenesis, Improves Tumor Vascular Function, and Promotes Tumor Growth In vivo." Cancer Res 67, no. 23 (2007): 11244-53.
Nakahara, T., S. Norberg, D. Shalinsky, D. Hu-Lowe, and D. M. McDonald. "Effect of Inhibition of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Signaling on Distribution of Extravasated Antibodies in Tumors." Cancer Res 66, no. 3 (2006): 1434-45. (
PDF - 13.2MB)
Ebos, J., C. Lee, W. Cruz-Munoz, G. Bjarnason, J. Christensen, and R. Kerbel. "Accelerated Metastasis after Short-Term Treatment with a Potent Inhibitor of Tumor Angiogenesis." Cancer Cell 15, 232–9.
Stockmann, C., A. Doedens, A. Weidemann, N. Zhang, N. Takeda, J. Greenberg, D. Cheresh, and R. Johnson. "Deletion of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Myeloid Cells Accelerates Tumorigenesis." Nature, no. 456 (December 11, 2008): 814-19.
Korsisaari, N., I. Kasman, W. Forrest, N. Pal, W. Bai, G. Fuh, F. Peale, R. Smits, and N. Ferrara. "Inhibition of VEGF-A Prevents the Angiogenic Switch and Results in Increased Survival of Apc+/min mice." PNAS 104, no. 25 (June 19, 2007): 10625–30.
Casanovas, O., D. Hicklin, G. Bergers, and D. Hanahan. "Drug Resistance by Evasion of Antiangiogenic Targeting of VEGF Signaling in Late-Stage pancreatic Islet Tumors." Cancer Cell 8, no. 4 (October, 2005): 299-309.
Castillo-Avila, W., J. M. Piulats, X. Garcia Del Muro, A. Vidal, E. Condom, O. Casanovas, J. Mora, J. R. Germà, G. Capellà, A. Villanueva, and F. Viñals. "Sunitinib Inhibits Tumor Growth and Synergizes with Cisplatin in Orthotopic Models of Cisplatin-Sensitive and Cisplatin-Resistant Human Testicular Germ Cell Tumors." Clin Cancer Res 15, no. 10 (May 15, 2009): 3384-95.