Joseph Gera

Joseph Gera, PhD

Professor, Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Associate Member, Molecular Biology Institute

Languages

English

Scientific Interests

Research in Dr. Joseph Gera's laboratory is focused on understanding the signal transduction mechanisms promoting carcinogenesis and chemotherapeutic resistance in gliomas and the plasma cell neoplasm multiple myeloma. His group investigates the PI3-kinase/AKT and mTOR signaling pathways and has elucidated crucial molecular determinants involved in tumor cell responses to inhibitors of these cascades. Current research is also is centered on elucidating the role of the mTORC2 regulatory subunit Rictor in gliomagenesis.

Highlighted Publications

Benavides-Serrato A, Lee J, Holmes B, Landon KA, Bashir T, Jung ME, Lichtenstein A, Gera J. Specific blockade of Rictor-mTOR association inhibits mTORC2 activity and is cytotoxic in glioblastoma. PLoS One. 2017 Apr 28;12(4):e0176599. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0176599. eCollection 2017.

Holmes B, Lee J, Landon KA, Benavides-Serrato A, Bashir T, Jung ME, Lichtenstein A, Gera J. Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) Inhibition Synergizes with Reduced Internal Ribosome Entry Site (IRES)-mediated Translation of Cyclin D1 and c-MYC mRNAs to Treat Glioblastoma. J Biol Chem. 2016 Jul 1;291(27):14146-59. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M116.726927. Epub 2016 May 11.

Artinian N, Cloninger C, Holmes B, Benavides-Serrato A, Bashir T, Gera J. Phosphorylation of the Hippo Pathway Component AMOTL2 by the mTORC2 Kinase Promotes YAP Signaling, Resulting in Enhanced Glioblastoma Growth and Invasiveness. J Biol Chem. 2015 Aug 7;290(32):19387-401. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M115.656587. Epub 2015 May 21.

Bashir T, Cloninger C, Artinian N, Anderson L, Bernath A, Holmes B, Benavides-Serrato A, Sabha N, Nishimura RN, Guha A, Gera J. Conditional astroglial Rictor overexpression induces malignant glioma in mice. PLoS One. 2012;7(10):e47741. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0047741. Epub 2012 Oct 15.

Tanaka K, Babic I, Nathanson D, Akhavan D, Guo D, Gini B, Dang J, Zhu S, Yang H, De Jesus J, Amzajerdi AN, Zhang Y, Dibble CC, Dan H, Rinkenbaugh A, Yong WH, Vinters HV, Gera JF, Cavenee WK, Cloughesy TF, Manning BD, Baldwin AS, Mischel PS. Oncogenic EGFR signaling activates an mTORC2-NF-kappa-B pathway that promotes chemotherapy resistance. Cancer Discov. 2011 Nov;1(6):524-38. doi: 10.1158/2159-8290.CD-11-0124. Epub 2011 Sep 13.