Erxi Wu, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences, and Fengfei Wang, senior research associate in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, have had a manuscript published with collaborator Guoying Zhang from China. “Suppression of growth, migration and invasion of highly metastatic human breast cancer cells by berbamine and its molecular mechanisms of action” was published in the journal, Molecular Cancer.

The researchers have been studying the activity of berbamine against highly metastatic human breast cancer and its molecular mechanisms of action. They discovered that berbamine suppresses the growth, migration and invasion in highly metastatic human breast cancer cells and it has synergistic effects with anticancer agents. The researchers suggest that berbamine may have wide therapeutic and adjuvant therapeutic application in treatment of human breast cancer and other cancers.

“Molecular Cancer, a forum for exciting findings in the field of cancer-related research, is an open access journal, providing an unparalleled opportunity to present information to specialists and the public. The online appearance of Molecular Cancer allows the immediate publication of accepted articles and the presentation of large amounts of data and supplemental information.”

Researchers from Wu's laboratory focus their work on tumor therapeutic targets, drug discovery and biomarkers. The lab has a close collaboration with Yantai University in China.