Oesterreich Research Group

Principal Investigator: Steffi Oesterreich, PhD

The main interest of Dr. Oesterreich’s laboratory is to further our understanding of hormone action in breast cancer, with the goal to use this knowledge for improved diagnosis and endocrine treatment of breast cancer patients. Specifically, her group studies how the estrogen receptor (ER) functions, how its activity is regulated by co-activator and co-repressor proteins, and if and how these mechanisms are perturbed in cancer cells. The lab is interested in novel concepts of ER action, such as its role in repression of gene transcription, and the involvement of higher order chromatin structure in hormone response. The Oesterreich lab aims to identify genetic markers such as polymorphisms, or epigenetic changes such as DNA methylation, which might be able to predict a patient’s response to endocrine therapy, which can be used to “personalize medicine”. All of these studies include many aspects of translational breast cancer research utilizing basic biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, cell lines, mouse models and clinical samples from retrospective cohort studies, and from clinical trials.

Lab Members:

Ryan Hartmaier, PhD

Postdoctoral Fellow
hartmaierr@upmc.edu

(The lab just moved from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, to Pittsburgh, and we are hiring – at all levels!)

Nadine Ryan

Assistant
Phone: 412-641-7557
ryann@upmc.edu

Lab Alumni:

Jason Garee
Thushangi Pathiraja
Simeen Zubairy
Shiming Jiang
Benny Kaipparettu
Stephanie Hammerich-Hille
Rene Meyer
Klaudia Dobrzycka
Ora Britton
Steven Towson
Kaiyan kang
Margarita Ivanova
Wanglend Deng
Mamie Air
Marten Michaelis
Kai Michaelis
Toby Sullivan

Selected Publications:

  • Ivanova M, Dobrzycka KM, Jiang S, Michaelis K, Meyer R, Kang K, Adkins B, Barski OA, Divisova J, Lee AV, Oesterreich S. Scaffold Attachment Factor B1 functions in development, growth, and reproduction. Mol Cell Biol, 25:2995-3006, 2005. PMID: 15798188; PMC10969606
  • Jiang S, Meyer R, Kang K, Osborne CK, Wong J, Oesterreich S. SAFB1 suppresses ERa-mediated transcription in part via interaction with N-CoR. Mol Endo, 20:311-20, 2006. PMID: 16195251
  • Dobrzycka KM, Kang K, Jiang S, Meyer R, Rao PH, Lee AV, Oesterreich S. Disruption of Scaffold Attachment Factor B1 Leads to TBX2 Up-regulation, Lack of p19ARF Induction, Lack of Senescence, and Cell Immortalization. Cancer Res, 66:7859-63, 2006. PMID: 16912158
  • Kaipparettu BA, Lee, AV, Kaipparettu MB, Oesterreich S. Novel egg white-based 3D cell culture system. Biotechniques 45:165-168.2008 PMID: 18687065
  • Hartmaier RJ, Tchatchou S, Richter AS, Wang J, McGuire SE, Skaar TC, Rae JM, Hemminki K, Sutter C, Ditsch N, Bugert P, Weber BH, Niederacher D, Arnold N, Varon-Mateeva R, Wappenschmidt B, Schmutzler RK, Meindl A, Bartram CR, Burwinkel B, Oesterreich S. Nuclear receptor coregulator SNP discovery and impact on breast cancer risk. BMC Cancer 2009, 14:438, PMID 20003447
  • Malik S, Jiang J, Garee J, Verdin E, Lee AV, O’Malley BW, Zhang W, Belaguli NS, Oesterreich S. Intricate Interplay between HDAC7 and FoxA1 in estrogen-mediated repression of RPRM. Mol Cell Biol. 2010, 30:399-412, PMID 19917725
  • Hammerich-Hille S, Tsimelzon A, Kaipparettu BA, Creighton C, Jiang S, Polo JM, Melnick A, Meyer R, Oesterreich S. SAFB1 mediates repression of immune regulators and apoptotic genes in breast cancer cells. J Biol Chem 2010, 285:3608-16, PMID 19901029
  • Pathiraja TN, Stearns V, Oesterreich S. Epigenetic Regulation in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer – role in treatment response. J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia 2010, Epub ahead of print. PMID 20101445

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