The Tew Lab

Redox Biology & Cancer Drug Development

The development of novel drugs remains a high priority in the successful therapeutic management of cancer. We have applied our accumulated knowledge of glutathione and glutathione S-transferases to the design and testing of new drugs that target redox pathways. With industrial sector colleagues, three drugs have reached late stage clinical testing. We have finished trials with S-glutathionylated serum proteins as biomarkers for exposure to radiation. We continue to work on the molecular and biochemical mechanisms of these drugs and to elucidate cellular pathways that impact upon drug response and resistance. Post-translational S-glutthionylation changes the structure and function of a variety of critical signaling proteins. This modification is also a primary source of interest in the lab.

Previous efforts have elucidated the function of a human membrane transporter, ABCA2 showing that cholesterol trafficking may be controlled. Its role in human disease states may serve as a prelude to targeting it for therapeutic intervention.

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Selected Publications

Hayes, J.D., Dinkova-Kostova, A. T. & Tew, K.D.. (2020) Oxidative stress in cancer. Cancer Cell

Zhang, L., Townsend, D.M., Morris, M., Maldonado, E. and Tew, K.D.. (2020.) Voltage-Dependent Anion Channels Influence Cytotoxicity of a Therapeutic Isoflavone. Journal of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics

Zhang, L., Zhang, J., Ye, Z. Manevich, Y., Townsend, D.M., Marshall, D. T. and Tew, K.D.. (2019) S-glutathionylated serine proteinase inhibitors as biomarker for radiation exposure on prostate cancer patients. Nature Scientific Reports

Zhang, L., Zhang, J., Ye, Z., Manevich, Y., Ball, L.E., Bethard, J.R., Jiang, Y.L., Bromme, A., Wang, G., Townsend, D.M. and Tew, K.D.. (2019) Heme Oxygenase 1 targeting by a cytotoxic isoflavone as a determinant of lung cancer sensitivity Cancer Research

Bräutigam, L., Zhang, J., Dreij, K., Spahiu, L., Holmgren, A., Tew, K.D., Townsend, D.M., Abe, H., Kelner, M.J., Morgenstern, R. and Johansson, K.. (2018) Microsomal glutathione transferase 1 is essential for development and hematopoietic stem cell differentiation. Redox Biology