Elona Bicaku

Recipients of the Brain Cancer Research Awards

Elona Bicaku

University of South Florida, Tampa
James A. Haley Veterans Hospital

Grant Award: $30,000 ($10,000/year in 2000, 2001 and 2002)

"My experience at Dr. Acevedo-Duncan's laboratory has given me the opportunity to see and apply the concepts that I learned in my classes first hand. I feel honored to be part of a dedicated team whose goal is to better understand brain cancer cell growth so that a cure for this devastating disease becomes a reality. I have learned not only about cancer and research, but also about people and myself. I have learned, among other things, that no achievement stands alone. Behind it are the patience, hard work and determination of a team of individuals who want to make a difference and are willing to go the extra mile to make their goal a reality. I consider The Sontag Foundation an important part of the team that stands behind my achievements. For this, I am deeply grateful, for I know that all I have learned so far will light my path as I continue on my journey to graduate school and beyond, learning and growing every step of the way."

-- Elona Bicaku

About Dr. Bicaku's Research:

Controlling the Proliferation of Glioma Cells with PKC Inhibitor PD 406976

We are studying the life cycle of brain cancer cells. As cells multiply when they are not needed, and continue to grow in such a way that they threaten the well being of the surrounding cells, they become cancerous. Brain cancer cells grow much faster when compared to other cancer cells. Also, it is now well known that the level of Protein Kinase C (PKC), a family of enzymes that play a crucial role in the cell cycle, is much higher in brain cancer compared to that of normal cells and other types of cancer. Therefore, our lab is focused on the cell cycle and the role that PKC enzymes play in it.

Just like a person's behavior, work, and achievement are greatly influenced by others around him or her, so are the behavior, functioning, and effectiveness of a protein. Therefore, not only do we study members of the PKC family such as PKC�II and PKCi throughout the life cycle of the cancer cell, but also other enzymes that are directly or indirectly linked to them, such as cdk7.

The objective of my current project is to research the location of PKC�II, PKCi and cdk7 in normal and cancer cells and to prove the existence of a close relationship between the proteins. Some of the cancer cells will be treated with drugs such as Aloe emodine, PD469676, and RO317549, which seem to inhibit the activity of some of the PKCs and delay the cell cycle. Using immunofluorescence, a protocol that makes the protein of interest visible, a highly sensitive microscope will record the presence and the location of the proteins of interest. Each protein is assigned a different color so that a fusion of colors would indicate colocalization of two proteins. The analysis of the data gathered will shed more light on the proteins' location, activity and functions. The results collected from my teammates and I will help us understand the complicated puzzle of the mechanism of Protein Kinase C in the cell cycle and how it relates to brain cancer.

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