University of Michigan Department of Internal Medicine Molecular Medicine and Genetics
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Faculty

Eric Fearon, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief, Molecular Medicine & Genetics
Emanuel N. Maisel Professor of Oncology
Professor of Internal Medicine
Professor of Human Genetics
Professor of Pathology
Associate Director for Basic Science, U of M Comprehensive Cancer Center

fearon@umich.edu
734/764-1549

   

Research Interests

The research in Dr Fearon's laboratory seeks to address the means by which specific oncogene and tumor suppressor gene defects contribute to the pathogenesis of colon and other cancers. Present areas of emphasis include studies of the APC/fl-catenin/Tcf, CDX2, and E-cadherin pathways, as well as gene expression profiling of colorectal cancers.

Education

1975-1979 Mount Blue High School, Farmington, Maine

1979-1983 The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD; B.A. (Biophysics)

1983-1990The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; M.D.

1985-1990 The Johns Hopkins University; Ph.D. (Biology/Program in Human Genetics; mentor - Dr. Bert Vogelstein)

Postdoctoral Training

1990-1992 Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Hematology Division, Dept. of Medicine & the Oncology Center (mentor - Dr. Chi Van Dang)

Honors and Awards

1983 Phi Beta Kappa ( Johns Hopkins University)

1983 Martin G. Larrabee undergraduate prize for research in biophysics, Johns Hopkins University

1990 Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society ( Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)

1990 David Israel Macht Prize for Basic Science Research ( Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)

1990 Wilson S. Stone Award, UT, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

1992-1995 McDonnell Fellow in Molecular Medicine in Cancer Research, James S. McDonnell Fund

1994 Ruppert B. Turnbull Memorial Lectureship, Visiting Professor, Dept. of Surgery, Jewish Hospital of St. Louis and Washington University School of Medicine

1996 Louis J. Cole Lecture, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto

1998 American Society of Clinical Investigation

2000 Lynch Lectureship, University of Notre Dame, Department of Biology, Molecular Biosciences Program

2001 Vice Chair, Gordon Research Conference on Cancer ( Newport, RI)

2002 Chair, Gordon Research Conference on Cancer ( Newport, RI)

2003 Association of American Physicians

2005 Third Annual DSR Sarma Lectureship in Oncologic Pathology, University of Toronto

2007 Johns Hopkins University Society of Fellows

2009 Co-organizer, Keystone Symposium on "Emerging Themes in Tumor Suppressors: Function and Clinical Implications in the Post-Genomic Era"

Recent Publications

Schwartz DR, Kardia SLR, Shedden KA, Kuick R, Michailidis G, Taylor JMG, Misek DE, Wu R, Zhai Y, Darrah DM, Reed H, Ellenson LH, Giordano TJ, Fearon ER, Hanash SM, Cho KR.† Gene expression in ovarian cancer reflects both morphology and biological behavior, distinguishing clear cell from other poor-prognosis ovarian carcinomas. Cancer Res 2002, 62:4722-4729.

Hinoi T, Lucas P, Kuick R, Hanash S, Cho KR, Fearon ER.† CDX2 regulates liver intestine-cadherin expression in normal and malignant colon epithelium and intestinal metaplasia in the stomach.† Gastroenterology 2002, 123:1565-1577.

Wu R, Lin L, Beer DG, Ellenson LH, Lamb BJ, Rouillard JM, Kuick R, Hanash S, Fearon ER, Cho KR. Amplification and overexpression of the L-MYC proto-oncogene in ovarian carcinomas. Am J Pathol 2003, 162:1603-1610.

Van Mater D, Kolligs FT, Dlugosz A, Fearon ER. Transient activation of b-catenin signaling in cutaneous keratinocytes is sufficient to trigger the active growth phase of the hair cycle in mice. Genes Dev 2003, 17:1219-1224.

Schwartz DR, Wu R, Kardia SLR, Levin AM, Huang CC, Shedden KA, Kuick R, Misek DE, Hanash SM, Taylor JMG, Read H, Hendrix N, Zhai Y, Fearon ER, Cho KR. Novel candidate targets of b-catenin/TCF signaling identified by gene expression profiling of ovarian endometrioid adenocarcinomas. Cancer Res 2003, 63:2913-2922.

Kim PJ, Plescia J, Clevers H, Fearon ER, Altieri DC. The TCF/b-catenin pathway imparts resistance to apoptosis via transcriptional activation of survin. Lancet 2003, 362:205-9.

Shedden KA, Taylor, JMG, Giordano TJ, Kuick R, Misek DE, Rennert G, Schwartz DR, Gruber SB, Logsdon C, Simeone D, Kardia SLR, Greenson JK, Cho KR, Beer DG, Fearon ER, Hanash S.† Accurate molecular classification of human cancers based on gene expression using a simple classifier with a pathologic tree-based framework. Am J Pathol 2003, 163:1985-95.

Hinoi T, Loda M, Fearon ER. Silencing of CDX2 expression in colon cancer via a dominant repression pathway. J Biol Chem 2003, 278:44608-16.

Feng Y, Lee N, Fearon ER. TIP49 regulates b-catenin-mediated neoplastic transformation and TCF-target gene induction via effects on chromatin remodeling. Cancer Res 2003, 63:8726-34.

Feng Y, Bommer GT, Winer I, Zhai Y, Lin HV, Cadigan KM, Cho KR, Fearon ER. Drosophila split ends homologue SHARP functions in a positive feedback loop to enhance Wnt/β-catenin/TCF signaling and neoplastic transformation. Cancer Res 2007, 67:482-91.

Wu R, Hendrix ND, Kuick R, Zhai Y, Schwartz DR, Akyol Aytekin, Hanash S, Misek DE, Katabuchi H, Williams BO, Fearon ER, Cho KR. Mouse model of human ovarian endometrioid adenocarcinoma based on somatic defects in the Wnt/β-catenin and PI3K/Pten signaling pathways. Cancer Cell 2007, 11:321-33.

Bommer GT, Gerin I, Feng Y, Kaczorowski AJ, Kuick R, Love RE, Zhai Y, Giordano TJ, Qin ZS, Moore BB, MacDougald OA, Cho KR, Fearon ER. p53-mediated activation of miRNA34 candidate tumor suppressor genes. Current Biol 2007, 17:1298-1307.

Hinoi T, Akyol A, Theisen BK, Ferguson DO, Greenson JK, Williams BO, Cho KR, Fearon ER. Mouse model of colonic adenoma-carcinoma progression based on somatic Apc inactivation. Cancer Res 2007, 67:9721-30.

Zhai Y, Kuick R, Nan B, Ota I, Weiss SJ, Trimble CL, Fearon ER, Cho KR. Gene expression analysis of pre-invasive and invasive cervical squamous cell carcinomas identifies HOXC10 as a key mediator of invasion. Cancer Res 2007, 10163-72.

Gruber SB, Moreno V. Rozek LS, Rennert HS, Lejbkowicz F, Bonner JD, Greenson JK, Giordano TJ, Fearon ER, Rennert G. Genetic variation in 8q24 asociated with risk of colorectal cancer. Cancer Biol Ther 2007, Jul 2;6(7). [Epub ahead of print].

Akyol A, Hinoi T, Feng Y, Bommer GT, Glaser TM, Fearon ER. Generating somatic mosaicism with a Cre recombinase-microsatellite sequence transgene. Nature Methods 2008, Mar; 5(3):231-3. Epub 2008 Feb 10.

Whiteman EL, Liu CJ, Fearon ER, Margolis B. The transcription factor snail represses Crumbs3 expression and disrupts apico-basal polarity complexes. Oncogene 2008, Jun 19; 27(27):3875-9. Epub 2008 Feb 4.

Sangha N, Wu R, Kuick R, Powers S, Mu D, Fiander D, Yuen K, Katabuchi H, Tashiro H, Fearon ER, Cho KR. Neurofibromin 1 (NF1) defects are common in human ovarian serous carcinomas and co-occur with TP53 mutations. Neoplasia 2008, Dec;10(12):1362-72, following 1372.

Rowe RG, Li XY, Hu Y, Saunders TL, Virtanen I, de Herreros AG, Becker KF, Ingvarsen S, Engelholm LH, Bommer GT, Fearon ER, Weiss SJ. Mesenchymal cells reactivate Snail1 expression to drive 3-dimensional invasion programs. J Cell Biol 2009, Feb 9;184(3):399-408. Epub 2009 Feb 2. 

Wang L, Heidt DG, Lee CJ, Yang H, Logdon CD, Zhang L, Fearon ER, Ljungman M, Simeone DM. Oncogenic function of ATDC (TRIM29) in pancreatic cancer through Wnt pathway activation and beta-catenin stabilization. Cancer Cell 2009, Mar 3;15(3):207-19.

Vilar E, Mukherjee B, Kuick R, Raskin L, Misek DE, Taylor JMG, Giordano TJ, Hanash   SM, Fearon ER, Rennert G, Gruber SB. Gene expression patterns in mismatch repair-deficient colorectal cancers highlight the potential therapeutic role of inhibitors of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway. Clin Cancer Res 2009, Apr 15;15(8):2829-39. Epub 2009 Apr 7.

Ji Q, Hao X, Zhang M, Tang W, Yang M, Li L, Xiang D, Desano JT, Bommer GT, Fan D, Fearon ER, Lawrence TS, Xu L. MicroRNA miR-34 inhibits human pancreatic cancer tumor-initiating cells. PLoS One. 2009 Aug 28;4(8):e6816.

Lab Projects

CVís from interested candidates may be forwarded to fearon@umich.edu

Additional Lab Links

Department of Pathology

Department of Human Genetics

Comprehensive Cancer Center

Cellular and Molecular Biology Program

Lab Members

Lab Manager:

Maranne Green

Research Investigators:

Ying Feng
Badal Roy
Joerg Zeller

Laboratory Research Assistants:

Ian Powelson
Evan Sands

Undergraduate Students:

Kelly Brown
Jenny Zhao