Gerard Blobe, MD, assistant professor of medical oncology, pharmacology, and cancer biology and a member of the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center, has been named as one of 15 recipients of the 2003 V Scholar Research Grants from The V Foundation, named for the late N.C. State University men's basketball coach Jim Valvano. The award of $100,000 will support Blobe's research into how the tumor suppressor protein, TGF-beta, functions during breast cancer tumor formation.

While normal breast cells are sensitive to the growth-inhibiting effects of TGF-beta, breast cancer cells are uniformly resistant to these growth-inhibiting effects. However, the mechanism for this resistance to TGF-beta has not been defined, Blobe said.

Recently, Blobe and his collaborators identified a previously unrecognized player along the TGF-beta signaling pathway that cells use to transmit messages internally. The new player, a protein called beta-arrestin, regulates the strength of TGF-beta's messages inside the cell. When TGF-beta's relay team of signalers fails to function properly, the resulting imbalance can lead to a variety of diseases, including cancer, heart disease and asthma, said Blobe.

Their latest finding, reported in the September 5, 2003 issue of Science, is yet another step toward identifying the mechanisms that cause TGF-beta resistance in cancer cells. Blobe said their ultimate goal is to target the TGF-beta pathway with new drugs that can help prevent or treat breast cancer.

Since 1993, The V Foundation has raised over $27 million and awarded over 170 research grants. The foundation seeks out promising young scientists from the finest research facilities across the country who need early developmental, critical-stage grant support.