Polaris is collaborating with Professors Richard Bold and Hsing-Jien Kung of UC Davis to investigate the potential synergism between ADI-PEG 20 and existing systemic chemotherapies, the mechanism of cell death by ADI-PEG 20, and the interplay of autophagy and apoptosis induced by ADI-PEG 20.
Dr. Richard Bold is an associate professor/chief at the UC Davis Cancer Center. With a medical degree from Stanford University, he is both a researcher and surgical oncologist. He is an expert in pancreatic gastrointestinal cancers and has published extensively in the areas of apoptosis, metastasis, and cellular biology of pancreatic cancer.
Dr. Hsing-Jien Kung is the Director of UC Davis Cancer Center Basic Sciences, Deputy Director UC Davis Cancer Center, and Professor of Biological Sciences. He is an internationally known scientist and cancer researcher with expertise in signal transduction, oncogenes, tyrosine kinases, prostate cancer, and cancer virology.
Arginine deprivation studies are being conducted in both Dr. Bold's and Dr. Kung's labs to determine ADI-PEG 20's mechanism of action. In addition, tumor cell lines are being identified that have low expression of argininosuccinate synthetase (ASS). The tumor types that are identified as having low ASS expression should be auxotrophic for arginine, rendering them susceptible to treatment with ADI-PEG 20.