Chuck Harrell Education: BS Biological Sciences, 2000 North Carolina State University Raleigh, North Carolina E-mail: Joshua.Harrell@UCHSC.edu Lab Phone: 303-724-3942 Thesis Advisor: Kate Horwitz

Chuck became the first graduate of the Program, succesfully defending his thesis "Dissecting Roles of Estrogen Receptors in Breast Cancer Lymphatic Metastasis", in May 2007.
He has recently accepted a Postdoctoral Fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Charles M Perou at the University of North Carolina.

Research Interests:

Research in the Horwitz lab investigates the molecular mechanisms of estrogen and progesterone receptor transactivation and their functions in breast cancer. The majority of breast cancers grow in response to hormones; however their roles in cancer spread are unclear. I am specifically interested in understanding how hormones influence metastasis through lymphatic vessels to lymph nodes. I have therefore generated several bright red and green fluorescent xenograft models of estrogen dependent and non-estrogen dependent human breast cancer spread to mouse lymph nodes. These models allow me to detect cancer cells moving through lymphatic vessels and have revealed unique genetic profiles between breast tumors and their lymph node metastases. Surprisingly, many of these differentially expressed genes are hormone regulated, suggesting that hormones actively participate in lymphatic dissemination. Determining how these genes affect breast cancer invasiveness will yield potential therapeutic targets to treat or prevent breast cancer metastasis.

General Interests:

Outside of the lab I enjoy skiing, hiking, fishing, gardening, and going to concerts and sporting events.

Publications:

Harrell JC, Dye WW, Harvell D, Pinto M, Sartorius CA, Horwitz KB. Estrogen insensitivity in a model of estrogen receptor positive breast cancer lymph node metastasis. Cancer Research, November 1, 2007.

Harrell JC, Dye WW, Horwitz KB. Metastasis signatures change completely when whole-tissue compared to laser capture microdissection are used for gene expression profiling: breast cancers versus lymph node metastases. October 2007, Clinical and Experimental Metastasis.

Harrell JC, Sartorius CA, Dye WW, Jacobsen BM, Horwitz KB. ZsGreen labeling of breast cancer cells to visualize metastasis. Clontechniques. April 2007.

Massart F, Federico G, Harrell JC, Saggese G. Thyroid outcome during long-term gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist treatments for idiopathic precocious puberty. March 2007, Journal of Adolescent health. 2007.

Harrell, JC, Dye, WW, Allred, DC, Jedlicka, P, Spoelstra, NS, Sartorius, CA, Horwitz, KB. Estrogen Receptor Positive Breast Cancer Metastasis: Altered Hormonal Sensitivity and Tumor Aggressiveness in Lymphatic Vessels and Lymph Nodes. Cancer Research 66, 2006: 9308-9315.

Jacobsen BM, Harrell JC, Jedlicka P, Borges VF, Varella-Garcia M, Horwitz KB. Spontaneous fusion with, and transformation of mouse stroma by, malignant human breast cancer epithelium. Cancer Research 66, 2006: 8274-8279

Hewitt SC, Harrell JC, Korach KS. Lessons in estrogen receptor biology from knockout and transgenic animals. Annual Review of Physiology. Volume 67, 2005: 285-308.

Massart F, Harrell JC, Federico G, Saggese G. Human breast milk and xenoestrogen exposure: a possible impact on human health. J Perinatol. 2005 Apr; 25(4):282-8.

Melvin VS, Harrell C, Adelman JS, Kraud WL, Churchill M, Edwards DP. The role of the C-terminal extension (CTE) of the estrogen receptor alpha and beta DNA binding domain in DNA binding and interaction with HMGB. J Biol Chem. 2004 Apr 9;279(15):14763-71.

Korach KS, Emmen JM, Walker VR, Hewitt SC, Yates M, Hall JM, Swope DL, Harrell JC, Couse JF. Update on animal models developed for analyses of estrogen receptor biological activity. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2003 Sep:86(3-5):387-91.

Swope D, Harrell JC, Mahato D, Korach KS. Genomic structure and identification of a truncated variant message of the mouse estrogen receptor alpha gene. Gene. 2002 Jul 10;294(1-2)239-47.