Susan Mooberry, Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmacology
Greehey Distinguished Chair in Targeted Molecular Therapeutics – Greehey CCRI at UT Health San Antonio
Co-leader of Experimental and Developmental Therapeutics – CTRC at UT Health San Antonio
Ph.D., Medical University of South Carolina
Office: 210-567-4788
Email: mooberry@uthscsa.edu
Cancer Therapy and Research Center – Research and Education>>
(video Intro)
View the video introduction to Dr. Mooberry’s Lab>>
Research Interests
| • drug discovery | • breast cancer |
| • natural products | • microtubule targeting agents |
| • pediatric cancers |
Research Activities
Our research is dedicated to the discovery of more effective therapies for the treatment of cancer, primarily breast cancer. There are several aspects to our work including drug discovery, identification of the mechanisms of drug action, the nature of drug resistance, identifying rational drug combinations and elucidation of the signaling pathways by which microtubule targeting agents elicit their effects.
We conduct a drug discovery program to identify new anticancer agents from natural products and from small molecule chemical libraries. With collaborators all over the world we evaluate extracts and compounds from fungi and plants to identify new drug leads. Our drug discovery efforts are focused on identifying new agents and targets for the treatment of triple negative breast cancer, pediatric solid tumors and oral cancer. We are screening fungal extracts from the Cichewicz laboratory and plant extracts form the National Cancer Institute.
After discovering new agents we identify their molecular mechanisms of action. This includes identifying the cellular binding site and how they work to impact cancer cell survival. We are currently investigating new microtubule stabilizers, microtubule destabilizing agents and inhibitors of diverse signaling pathways
Microtubule targeting drugs are some of the most effective used in cancer therapy, but the signaling pathways that lead from inhibition of microtubule dependent events to anticancer efficacy are only now being elucidated. We are identifying how specific pathways are interrupted by distinct microtubule targeting agents to allow for more focused individualized patient therapies in the future.
Selected Publications
- Dybdal-Hargreaves, NF., Risinger, AL. and Mooberry, SL. (2015) Eribulin Mesylate: Mechanism of Action of a Unique Microtubule-Targeting Agent Clin Cancer Res. Epub April 3, 2015
- Robles, AJ., Peng, J., Hartley, RM., Lee, B. and Mooberry, SL. (2015) Melampodium leucanthum, a Source of Cytotoxic Sesquiterpenes with Antimitotic Activities J Nat Prod. Mar 27;78(3):388-95. doi: 10.1021/np500768s
- Du, L., Robles, AJ., King, JB., Powell, DR., Miller, AN., Mooberry, SL. and Cichewicz RH. (2014) Crowdsourcing Natural Products Discovery to Access Uncharted Dimensions of Fungal Metabolite Diversity Angew Chem Int Ed Eng 53:804-809
- Rohena, CC. and Mooberry, SL. (2014) Recent progress with microtubule stabilizers: new compounds, binding modes and cellular activities. Natural Product Reports 31:335-355
- Risinger, AL., Riffle, SM., Lopus, M., Jordan, MA., Wilson, L. and Mooberry SL. (2014) The taccalonolides and paclitaxel cause distinct effects on microtubule dynamics and aster formation. Mol. Cancer 13:41
- Research Group •
April Risinger, Ph.D., Asst Professor/Research
Alison Clark, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow
Andrew Robles, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow
Antonio Contreras, Research Assistant
Kristen Flores, Research Associate
Nicholas Dybdal-Hargreaves, Pharmacology Graduate Student
Roma Kaul, Cancer Graduate Student
Corena Shafer, IBMS Phys/Pharm Graduate Student