Jerry Laboratory

D. Joseph Jerry, Ph.D.

Telephone: 413.545.5335
Fax: 413.545.6326
Email
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Chair, Breast Cancer Working Group, PVLSI
Professor, Veterinary & Animal Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Adjunct Faculty in Pathology, Baystate Medical Center

Education

B.S., Animal Science, University of Vermont
M.S., Nutrition, Purdue University
Ph.D., Nutrition, Pennsylvania State University

Postdoctoral Experience

Molecular Genetics, Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine, 1987-1990
Molecular Virology, Baylor College of Medicine, 1991-1993

Tumor Suppressor Genes and the Cellular Basis for Susceptibility to Breast Cancer

Reproductive factors and family history of breast cancer are the most important predictors of an individual's risk of developing breast cancer. These observations emphasize the important contributions of both genetic background and hormonal exposures in determining the risk of breast cancer. Our laboratory has demonstrated an association between activity of the p53 tumor suppressor protein and incidence of mammary tumors. Expression and activity of p53 protein are responsive to hormonal stimuli and varies across different stages of mammary gland development. Therefore, a major focus of the laboratory is to discover the normal cellular mechanisms that regulate p53 function and determine whether sustained elevation in p53 activity may prevent mammary tumors. We also use genetic mapping strategies in mice to identify low-penetrance modifiers of mammary tumor susceptibility. Genes that regulate p53 function would provide novel targets for prevention and treatment of breast cancer. Through the use of contemporary techniques in molecular and cellular biology with animal models, we are defining the developmental biology of the breast epithelium itself, while providing both a genetic and cellular basis for susceptibility to breast cancer.

Working Groups:
Breast Cancer Working Group (director)
Center of Excellence in Apoptosis Research

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Selected papers:

Lu, S., Becker, K.A., Hagen, M.J., Yan, H., Roberts, A.L., Mathews, L.A., Schneider, S.S., Siegelmann, H.T., Tirrell, S.M., MacBeth, K.J., Blanchard, J.L. and Jerry, D.J. 2008. Transcriptional responses to estrogen and progesterone in Mammary gland identify networks regulating p53 activity. Endocrinology. 149(10):4809-20.

Dunphy, K.A., Blackburn, A.C., Yan, H., O'Connell, L.R., and Jerry, D.J. 2008. Estrogen and progesterone induced persistent increases in p53-dependent apoptosis and suppress mammary tumors in BALB/c-Trp53+/-mice. Br. Cancer Res. 12:10(3):R43.

Koch, J.G., Gu, X., Han, Y., El-Naggar, A.K., Olson, M.V., Medina, D., Jerry, D.J., Blackburn, A.C., Peltz, G., Amos, C.I., and Lozano, G. 2007. Mammary tumor modifiers in BALB/cJ mice heterozygous for p53. Mamm. Genome 18(5):300-9.

Blackburn, A.C., Hill, L.Z., Roberts, A.L., Wang, J., Aud, D., Jung, J., Nikolcheva, T., Allard, J., Peltz, G. Otis, C.N., Cao, Q. J., Ricketts, R. St. J., Naber, S.P., Mollenhauer, J., Poustka, A., Malamud, D., and Jerry, D.J. 2007. Genetic mapping in mice identifies DMBT1 as a candidate modifier of breast cancer risk. Am. J. Pathol. 170:2030-41.

Becker, K.A., Lu, S.L., Dickinson, E.S., Dunphy, K.A., Mathews, L., Schneider, S.S. and Jerry, D.J. 2005. Estrogen and progesterone regulate radiation-induced p53 activity through TGF-ß dependent pathways. Oncogene 24:6345-6353.

Blackburn, A.C., McLary, S.C., Naeem, R., Luszcz, J., Stockton, D.W., Donehower, L.A., Mohammed, M., Mailhes, J.B., Soferr, T., Naber, S.P., Otis, C.N., and Jerry, D.J. 2004. Loss of heterozygosity occurs via mitotic recombination in Trp53+/- mice and associates with mammary tumor susceptibility of the BALB/c strain. Cancer Res. 64:5140-5147.

Blackburn, A.C., Brown, J.S., Naber, S.P., Otis, C.N. Wood, J.T., and Jerry, D.J. 2003. BALB/c alleles for Prkdc and Cdkn2a interact to modify tumor susceptibility in Trp53+/- mice. Cancer Res. 63:2364-2368, 2003.

Kuperwasser, C. Hurlbut, G.D., Kittrell, F.S., Medina, D., Dickinson, E.S., Naber, S.P. and Jerry, D.J. 2000. Development of spontaneous mammary tumors in BALB/c p53-heterozygous mice: A model for Li-Fraumeni syndrome. Am. J. Pathol. 157:2151-2159.

Jerry, D.J., Kittrell, F.S., Kuperwasser, C., Laucirica, R., Dickinson, E.S., Bonilla, P.J., Butel, J.S., and Medina, D. 2000. A mammary-specific model demonstrates the role of teh p53 tumor suppressor gene in tumor development. Oncogene 19:1052-1058.

Jerry, D.J., Kuperwasser, C., Downing, S., Pinkas, J., He, C., Dickinson, E.S., Marconi, S., and Naber, S.P. 1998. Delayed involution of the mammary epithelium in BALB/c-p53null mice. Oncogene 17:2305-2312.

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