James M. Phang, M.D.
- Center for Cancer Research
- National Cancer Institute
- Building 560, Room 32-40C
- Frederick, MD 21702-1201
- 301-846-5367
- phangj@mail.nih.gov
RESEARCH SUMMARY
Dr. Phang’s laboratory, the Metabolism and Cancer Susceptiblity Section, pioneered studies of the regulatory functions of the amino acid, proline. His discoveries provided seminal insights into tumor reprogramming and metabolic epigenetics and introduced novel strategies for cancer therapy. Dr. Phang's laboratory showed that proline dehydrogenase (a.k.a. proline oxidase) is regulated by p53, PPARgamma and AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) to produce signaling reactive oxygen species (ROS) to initiate apoptosis, autophagy and other stress responses. Proline biosynthetic pathways regulate redox to control bioenergetics and cell growth. This metabolic axis constituted a new paradigm for epigenetics and for the regulation of stem cell development.
Areas of Expertise
1) tumor metabolism 2) metabolic reprogramming 3) epigenetics
Biography
James M. Phang, M.D.
Dr. James Phang received his M.D. from Loma Linda University School of Medicine and his clinical training in internal medicine from Stanford Medical Center. He was a clinical associate with NCI's Metabolism Branch. After additional training in biochemistry and molecular biology with the Laboratory of Chemical Biology, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Dr. Phang was appointed as a Senior Investigator in the Metabolism Branch, NCI, and later became head of the Endocrinology Section. From 1989 to 1998, he served as Chief of the Laboratory of Nutritional and Molecular Regulation, and in 1998, he formed the Metabolism and Cancer Susceptibility Section in the Basic Research Laboratory. From 2003 to 2011, the section was a component of the Laboratory of Comparative Carcinogenesis.
Dr. Phang retired as a Senior Investigator in 2015 and is now an NIH Scientist Emeritus.