Joshua B. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D. [ contact information ]
I am interested in the biology and treatment
of pediatric brain tumors. In my laboratory
we are using the model of normal
central nervous system development to
help identify molecules that regulate the
movements, proliferation and survival of
neural progenitor cells. We suspect that
these same molecules will influence the
infiltrative and metastatic behavior, as well
as the proliferation and survival of brain
cancer cells. Through this approach, we
have identified two molecules, the
chemokine CXCL12 (SDF-1a) and its
receptor CXCR4 that are critical to normal
cerebellar development and whose activation
is necessary for growth of medulloblastoma,
a neuronal tumor that is the
most common brain tumor of childhood
and glioblastoma multiforme, a malignant
astrocytic tumor. These observations serve
as the basis for a wide range of research
regarding the role of CXCR4 in tumori-genesis
in the CNS and the nature of the
intracellular signals that support these
functions. These observations also serve
as the foundation for designing a clinical
trial of CXCR4 antagonist therapy for brain
tumors that we hope to have underway
in the near future. This overlaps with my
other research interest, which is in the
clinical development of novel therapies
for brain tumors. In the multidisciplinary
Pediatric Brain Tumor Program here at
St. Louis Children's Hospital, we are
working to develop and deliver innovative
therapies to children with brain tumors.
Education
- B.S., Yale University, 1982
- M.Sc., Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1992
- Ph.D., Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1994
- M.D., Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 1994
Training
- Resident, Children's Hospital, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, 1994-97
- Fellowship in Hematology/Oncology, Children's Hospital/Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, 1997-2000
Selected Publications
Klein RS, Rubin JB:
Immune and nervous system CXCL12 and CXCR4: Parallel roles in patterning and plasticity.
Trends in Immunology
2004;
25(6):306-14.
Rubin JB, Kung, AL, Klein RS,
Chan JA, Sun Y, Schmidt K, Kieran MW, Luster AD,
Segal RA:
A small molecule antagonist of CXCR4 inhibits intracranial growth of primary brain tumors.
PNAS
2003;
100(23):13513-8,.
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