Targeting the death receptors in cancer therapy – Novel insights into apoptosis and chemosensitivity

Baolin Zhang

: J Bioengineer & Biomedical Sci

Abstract :

The cell surface death receptors (DRs) are promising targets for cancer therapy because of their ability in inducing apoptosis in target cells. Therapeutic strategies have been focused on tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNF-R1) as well as TNF-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL) receptor 1 (TRAIL-R1 or DR4) or 2 (TRAIL-R2 or DR5). This presentation will give an update on the development of DR-targeted anticancer drug products, including the recombinant human TNF and its modified forms, recombinant human TRAIL, and monoclonal antibodies to DR4 or DR5. Emphasis will be placed on tumor resistance mechanisms, biomarkers for prediction of tumor response, and strategies for combination chemotherapies.

Biography :

Dr. Baolin Zhang is a Principal Investigator at the Division of Therapeutic Proteins, Office of Biotechnology Products, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), where he is responsible for the regulatory review of a diverse array of novel therapeutic protein products and is responsible for leading a research team in the conduct of FDA mission-relevant research. His expertise is in protein chemistry and cell death signaling as evidenced by over sixty peer-reviewed publications. He serves as an Editorial Board member or reviewer for numerous peer-reviewed journals in the area of cell biology and cancer drug development. Prior to joining FDA in 2001, he was a Senior Research Scientist at University of Tennessee, College of Medicine. He also previously served as Professor and Deputy Director at the Beijing Center for Biologics Development and Research, and Associate Professor at Nanjing University. He earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Peking University in 1992. He has received many awards including the 2010 FDA/CDER Scientific Achievement Awards for Excellence in Laboratory Science.