Dr. Price is currently investigating the regulation of androgens. Androgens are the primary driver in the etiology of prostate cancer.  All genes and gene products involved with the synthesis and regulation of androgens contribute to an individual's risk of developing prostate cancer. Single polymorphic genes do not exclusively explain a complex, late-onset, chronic disease such as prostate cancer, but identification of genes that increase risk will contribute to a larger-scale multigenic risk assessment.  To this end, the laboratory is interested in understanding the associations between important androgen regulatory genes and prostate cancer risk, and elucidating the complex process of prostate cancer aggressiveness and progression.  One example of Dr. Price’s work is the ongoing study of the SLCO1B3 gene that encodes the membrane transporter OATP1B3.  Membrane transporters play active roles in drug disposition by transporting substrate drugs between organs and tissues, and we have shown that this gene is involved in testosterone transport into cells. The long-term goal of this project is to continue to characterize the role of OATP1B3 in prostate cancer and understand the molecular mechanisms controlling its expression.  This is vital for future drug discovery efforts and the potential inhibition of this important transporter. Dr. Price is now involved with developing the infrastructure that will allow a high-throughput assay to find candidate OATP1B3 inhibitors from the drug library at NCI's Molecular Targets Drug Development Program, and to develop this identified inhibitor.