Armen Petrosyan is an Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UNMC. His research project is entitled “The role for N-glycan carrying Sialyl-Lewis(x) in progression of prostate cancer”. Multiple studies have shown that serine protease Matriptase plays a substantial role in prostate cancer growth, invasion, and metastasis, but the mechanism of its activation at the cell surface is unknown. Matriptase undergoes glycan modification by the Golgi enzyme MGAT5, whose expression is also enhanced in advanced prostate cancer. Dr. Petrosyan hypothesizes that disorganization of the Golgi apparatus causes domination of MGAT5-mediated glycosylation resulting in the relocation of abnormally glycosylated Matriptase to the cell surface via its direct specific interaction with binding lectin, Galectin-3. This research will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Eric Dodds a previous CIBC ESI and current member of the CIBC Systems Biology Core specializing in novel technologies to determine the structure of glycosylated proteins.
Learn more about Dr. Petrosyan at: https://www.unmc.edu/biochemistry/faculty/petrosyan.html
