Dr. Masaaki Tamura's laboratory

"We study the role of angiotensin II signaling in lung and colon carcinogenesis. Angiotensin II is an important peptide hormone that systemically controls blood pressure and sodium level. Angiotensin II locally regulates various cytokine production and resultant cell growth. We recently have shown that angiotensin II receptor–null mutant mice have a significantly attenuated susceptibility to chemical carcinogen-induced tumorigenesis in the colon and lung. These studies suggest that angiotensin II signaling is involved in colon and lung carcinogenesis. Thus, the regulation of angiotensin II signaling is a potential target for novel chemoprevention procedure. Studying angiotensin II signaling in cancerous cell transformation and in mouse cancer models will provide better understanding of this difficult disease and potentially lead to the development of new therapeutic procedures."