Andrew S. Kraft, MD

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Professor, Medicine
Associate Vice President, Oncology Programs
Professor, Cellular and Molecular Medicine
Senior Associate Dean, Translational Research
Suite 2912
Biography
I completed my medical and research training at the University of Pennsylvania and the National Cancer Institute.
Cancer Focus
My laboratory has focused on understanding the role of multiple protein kinases and their signal transduction pathways in regulating tumor growth. This focus led to the evaluation of drugs that regulate these kinases and an examination of how these laboratory findings might be translated into the clinic. Early discoveries identified a unique mechanism by which a lipid kinase, PKC, translocates to the plasma membrane, and how a novel c-Jun protein kinase that induced cancer cell differentiation. Current experiments on the Pim kinase are being conducted using organoids, and transgenic mice focusing on regulation of long non-coding RNAs and P bodies, controllers of mRNA half-life, to regulate cancer growth.
Selected Publications
Song, J. H., N. Singh, L. A. Luevano, S. K. R. Padi, K. Okumura, V. Olive, S. M. Black, N. A. Warfel, D. W. Goodrich, and A. S. Kraft, "Mechanisms Behind Resistance to PI3K Inhibitor Treatment Induced by the PIM Kinase.", Mol Cancer Ther, vol. 17, issue 12, pp. 2710-2721, 2018 Dec. PMCID: PMC6279580 PMID: 30190422
Cen, B., S. Mahajan, W. Wang, and A. S. Kraft, "Elevation of receptor tyrosine kinases by small molecule AKT inhibitors in prostate cancer is mediated by Pim-1.", Cancer Res, vol. 73, issue 11, pp. 3402-11, 2013 Jun 01. PMCID: PMC3680595 PMID: 23585456
Beharry, Z., S. Mahajan, M. Zemskova, Y-W. Lin, B. G. Tholanikunnel, Z. Xia, C. D. Smith, and A. S. Kraft, "The Pim protein kinases regulate energy metabolism and cell growth.", Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, vol. 108, issue 2, pp. 528-33, 2011 Jan 11. PMCID: PMC3021022 PMID: 21187426
Kraft, A. S., and W. B. Anderson, "Phorbol esters increase the amount of Ca2+, phospholipid-dependent protein kinase associated with plasma membrane.", Nature, vol. 301, issue 5901, pp. 621-3, 1983 Feb 17-23. PMID: 6828143