Recent Progress in Tumor Welcomes New Editorial Board Member

We sincerely welcome Prof. Dr. Michio Kurosu from University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, United States, to join the Editorial Board of Recent Progress in Tumor. Dr. Kurosu has a long-term interest in identifying new drug targets for bacterial infections and cancer chemotherapeutics. He has a broad background in organic chemistry / medicinal chemistry and protein chemistry, with special training and expertise in preclinical drug discovery (hit to lead). His research includes anticancer and antibacterial drug discoveries associated with Gram-negative bacteria, Mycobacterium spp., spore-forming bacteria (e.g., Clostridioides difficile), and solid cancers (e.g., pancreatic, breast, cervical, and ovarian cancers). As PIs on several NIH- and internally funded programs, he has studied essential enzymes for growth of Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and glycosyl transferases for drug discoveries of pancreatic and cervical cancers. Through these projects, he successfully collaborated with other researchers (cancer biologists, structural biochemists, microbiologists, enzymologists, geneticist, industrial medicinal chemists, pharmacologists, and a formulation scientist). One of the notable drug discovery projects is that he contributed to develop eribulin, a halichondrin B analogue, with the Harvard Professor and industrial scientists. He has developed concise syntheses of complex natural and unnatural molecules, and design/synthesized chiral small molecules, and generated small optimized libraries. He also develops convenient assays amenable to HTS. These efforts have resulted in the discovery of several new drug leads effective against dormant M. tuberculosis, C. difficile spores, and MDR-Acinetobacter baumannii. A new anticancer DPAGT1 inhibitor developed in his group is innovative. Our lab has set up cytotoxicity assays against a panel of cancer cell lines and bacterial growth inhibitory assays against batteries of pathogens including BSL3 bacteria. Basic pharmacological evaluation including in vitro ADMET studies have been routinely performed in his lab. His researches have been supported by uniquely assembled core facilities across UTHSC campus. We appreciate Prof. Dr. Michio Kurosu for his participation and support.