Start Date
4-4-2022 3:45 PM
End Date
4-4-2022 5:00 PM
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
The stratospheric ozone layer is Earth's “sunscreen” – protecting living things from too much ultraviolet radiation from the sun. The emission of ozone depleting substances has been damaging the ozone layer. Due to the implementation of the Montreal Protocol, which has limited, and is now probably reversing, the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, only modest increases in solar UV-B radiation at the surface of the Earth have occurred. For many fair-skinned populations, changing behavior with regard to exposure to the sun has also contributed to lower the exposure to UV-B radiation. The skin and eyes are the organs exposed to solar UV radiation. Excessive solar irradiation causes skin cancer.
Melanoma is an aggressive skin cancer that begins in melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells responsible for skin color. While melanoma accounts for less than five percent of skin cancer cases, its numbers are rising, and it carries a poor prognosis when diagnosed late. The most commonly mutated genes in human melanoma, BRAF is mutated in 50-70% of all tumors. Dr. Molina’s laboratory uses a zebrafish model for the development of melanoma. This animals were engineered using transgenic molecular biology tools to express the human BRAF oncogene specifically in the melanocytes of the fish. Recapitulating human skin cancer, these transgenic zebrafish developed melanomas. Dr. Molina’s lab uses these animals to study novel genetics and non-genetics events leading to melanoma. Data will be discussed on how this melanoma animal model can be used to develop novel approaches to study melanoma genesis and possible treatments modalities.
Biography
Dr. Molina has a B.S. in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, M.S. in Medicinal Chemistry and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Purdue University. His postdoctoral work was done at the Université Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, France. Dr. Molina’s first appointment in academia was at Rutgers-New Jersey Medical School where he was the founder and director of the transgenic mouse facility. Presently, Dr. Molina, is professor of Biology at Montclair State University. His research is in tumor and reproductive biology.
Additional Links
ORCID
Environmental consequences of depleted stratospheric ozone layer and the biology of skin cancer
The stratospheric ozone layer is Earth's “sunscreen” – protecting living things from too much ultraviolet radiation from the sun. The emission of ozone depleting substances has been damaging the ozone layer. Due to the implementation of the Montreal Protocol, which has limited, and is now probably reversing, the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, only modest increases in solar UV-B radiation at the surface of the Earth have occurred. For many fair-skinned populations, changing behavior with regard to exposure to the sun has also contributed to lower the exposure to UV-B radiation. The skin and eyes are the organs exposed to solar UV radiation. Excessive solar irradiation causes skin cancer.
Melanoma is an aggressive skin cancer that begins in melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells responsible for skin color. While melanoma accounts for less than five percent of skin cancer cases, its numbers are rising, and it carries a poor prognosis when diagnosed late. The most commonly mutated genes in human melanoma, BRAF is mutated in 50-70% of all tumors. Dr. Molina’s laboratory uses a zebrafish model for the development of melanoma. This animals were engineered using transgenic molecular biology tools to express the human BRAF oncogene specifically in the melanocytes of the fish. Recapitulating human skin cancer, these transgenic zebrafish developed melanomas. Dr. Molina’s lab uses these animals to study novel genetics and non-genetics events leading to melanoma. Data will be discussed on how this melanoma animal model can be used to develop novel approaches to study melanoma genesis and possible treatments modalities.