# Cellular mechanisms of androgen action and androgen-response gene EAF2 in prostate cancer

> **NIH NIH R50** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2020 · $115,503

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This application is for the R50 Research Specialist in the laboratory of Dr. Zhou Wang at the University of
Pittsburgh. A critical need for protected stable positions for scientists who understand both the basic biology
and clinical aspects of urologic diseases exists. Our goal is to fulfill this need by providing a protected position
for Dr. Laura E. Pascal in pursuance of the successful completion of the current and future aims of Dr. Wang's
NCI funded EAF2 grant. Dr. Wang's NCI R01 CA186780 grant, “Roles of EAF2 in androgen action in the
prostate”, which is in its 20th year of funding, began in 1996 with the identification and characterization of
androgen-responsive genes in the prostate and was just awarded a renewal in 2015. The original aims of the
past grant were 1) to characterize the effect of U19/EAF2 knockout on prostate homeostasis; 2) to determine if
U19/EAF2 knockout can induce prostate cancer in PTEN+/- mice; and 3) to determine the role of ELL2, a
U19/EAF2 binding partner, in U19/EAF2 action in the prostate. The grant received MERIT status in 2011 and
the updated aims were 1) to test the hypothesis that loss of U19/EAF2 does not affect undeveloped prostate
naïve to androgens, 2) to continue characterization of ELL2 in U19/EAF2 action in the prostate, and 3) to
determine whether, and to what extent, ELL2- and EAF2-downstream genes overlap in the prostate. The
current aims are 1) to investigate EAF2 interaction with p53, 2) to determine the role of EAF2 and p53 in AR-
regulated gene expression and cell proliferation, and 3) to determine the effect of concurrent loss of EAF2 and
p53 on prostate carcinogenesis. Dr. Pascal is actively working on experiments from Aims 2 and 3 of this
current grant and was involved in the successful completion of previous Aims.
Dr. Pascal began working on ELL-associated factor 2 (EAF2), an androgen-responsive transcription elongation
factor, in 2008 when she joined the Dr. Wang's lab as a post-doctoral fellow. Because of her significant
contributions and success in the advancement of this project, she was appointed Research Assistant Professor
in the Wang lab in 2011. Dr. Wang initially discovered EAF2 as an androgen-responsive gene, up-regulated
gene 19 (U19). With the assistance of Dr. Pascal, Dr. Wang's lab has generated multiple recent observations
that indicate a key role for EAF2 in androgen action and prostatic diseases. Dr. Pascal was integrally involved
in the publication of several recent reports that suggest EAF2 downregulation may be associated with
aggressiveness of prostate cancer. Since joining Dr. Wang's lab, she has co-authored 5 publications focused
on EAF2 in the prostate and has become an expert on the EAF2 knockout mouse phenotype, murine prostate
tumor models with combined loss of EAF2 and tumor suppressors PTEN and p53, as well as several prostate
tumor xenografts. Additionally, she is providing support for Dr. Wang's collaboration with Dr. Paul Johnston in...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9991812
- **Project number:** 5R50CA211242-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Laura Ellen Pascal
- **Activity code:** R50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $115,503
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-19 → 2021-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9991812

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9991812, Cellular mechanisms of androgen action and androgen-response gene EAF2 in prostate cancer (5R50CA211242-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9991812. Licensed CC0.

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