Description:

The Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics presents:

Dr. Jason Locasale, Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology

Duke University

Title: Diet and metabolic therapeutics in cancer 

 This presentation will focus on methionine metabolism in health and cancer.  I will first discuss methionine content in human food and dietary patterns .  I will next focus on how changes to dietary methionine can produced defined consequences on cellular metabolism.  I will then discuss work on dietary influences on the activity of the pathway and its relation to the regulation of one carbon metabolism in cancer.  How methionine restricted diets may allow for interventions in cancer treatment and relevant mechanisms will be discussed including how changes to dietary methionine can influence interventions that target one carbon metabolism involving radiation and antimetabolite chemotherapies such as 5-fluorouracil.  The link between nutritional methionine status and chromatin biology and epigenetics will also be introduced in this talk.