Jason Cho
Undergraduate College/University: Cornell University
NIDCR Summer Dental Researcher
My interest was to explore the signal pathway that leads to induction and proliferation of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC). I focused on the MAPK pathway, specifically p38α MAPK pathway which has shown to be upregulated in HNSCC. This kinase cascade regulate cell proliferation, growth, survival, and migration by controlling transcription factors such as c-Jun, c-Fos, ATF-2, and EIK1 and pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β and TNF-α. Tumor microenvironments are often inflammatory sites, and I also tested the effect of IL-1β and TNF-α on p38α regulation.