Philip C. Trackman, PhD
Emeritus Professor, Translational Dental Medicine
Biography
Dr. Philip Trackman is an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Translational Dental Medicine at the Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine. Dr. Trackman is also an important member of the Oral Cancer Research Initiative (OCRI) and is currently investigating the molecular mechanisms of the connective tissue enzyme, lysyl oxidase, and its potential therapeutic effects in oral cancer. A third area of interest is mechanisms of diabetic bone disease, in which he has recently provided evidence for dysregulation of osteoblast lysyl oxidase by gastric hormones in diabetes to be a determining mechanism in this pathology.
Dr. Trackman became interested in cancer research in 1990, after cloning lysyl oxidase for the very first time. This enzyme family has tumor inhibitory properties and also enhances tissue fibrosis and metastasis. In the context of the OCRI, Dr. Trackman is working to investigate the two therapeutic opportunities which these findings suggest. His first aim is to explore how to inhibit the harmful activity of the active enzymes, while taking advantage of the tumor growth inhibitory activity of the lysyl oxidase propeptide. The lysyl oxidase propeptide was shown by Dr. Trackman’s lab in 2004 to be responsible for the tumor growth inhibitory properties of lysyl oxidase. His lab has confirmed this in animal models of both breast and prostate cancer, and recently also in oral cancer. Dr. Trackman collaborated on this project with Research Assistant Professor Dr. Manish Bais, who is also an OCRI investigator.
Dr. Trackman’s ongoing research will establish the extent to which new and powerful lysyl oxidase family enzyme activity inhibitors can block human oral cancer tumor growth and/or metastasis in mice. This work is funded by the OCRI’s Etiology and Pathogenesis of Oral Cancer Affinity Research Collaborative (ARC) as a part of Boston University’s Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research. In addition, modifications to the structure of the lysyl oxidase propeptide are underway with the goal of enhancing its tumor growth inhibitory properties, and also to identify its most important binding partners in its ability to inhibit tumor growth.
Other Positions
- Director of Graduate Programs, Molecular & Cell Biology, Molecular & Cell Biology, Boston University Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine
- Research Assistant Professor, Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
- Member, BU-BMC Cancer Center, Boston University
- Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research, Boston University
- Member, Genome Science Institute, Boston University
- Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students), Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences
Education
- Boston University, PhD
- College of Wooster, BA
Publications
- Published on 5/28/2023
Peymanfar Y, Mahjour F, Shrestha N, de la Cueva A, Chen Y, Huang S, Kirsch KH, Han X, Trackman PC. The Lysyl Oxidase G473A Polymorphism Exacerbates Oral Cancer Development in Humans and Mice. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 May 28; 24(11). PMID: 37298359.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 3/23/2023
Trackman PC. Multifunctional Lysyl Oxidases. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Mar 23; 24(7). PMID: 37047014.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 5/3/2022
Trackman PC, Peymanfar Y, Roy S. Functions and Mechanisms of Pro-Lysyl Oxidase Processing in Cancers and Eye Pathologies with a Focus on Diabetic Retinopathy. Int J Mol Sci. 2022 May 03; 23(9). PMID: 35563478.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 4/13/2021
Daley EJ, Trackman PC. ß-Catenin mediates glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide increases in lysyl oxidase expression in osteoblasts. Bone Rep. 2021 Jun; 14:101063. PMID: 33981809.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 9/16/2019
Kim D, Lee D, Trackman PC, Roy S. Effects of High Glucose-Induced Lysyl Oxidase Propeptide on Retinal Endothelial Cell Survival: Implications for Diabetic Retinopathy. Am J Pathol. 2019 10; 189(10):1945-1952. PMID: 31537300.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 8/7/2019
Daley EJ, Pajevic PD, Roy S, Trackman PC. Impaired Gastric Hormone Regulation of Osteoblasts and Lysyl Oxidase Drives Bone Disease in Diabetes Mellitus. JBMR Plus. 2019 Oct; 3(10):e10212. PMID: 31687648.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 6/18/2019
Lee VS, Halabi CM, Broekelmann TJ, Trackman PC, Stitziel NO, Mecham RP. Intracellular retention of mutant lysyl oxidase leads to aortic dilation in response to increased hemodynamic stress. JCI Insight. 2019 06 18; 5. PMID: 31211696.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 5/13/2019
Mahjour F, Dambal V, Shrestha N, Singh V, Noonan V, Kantarci A, Trackman PC. Mechanism for oral tumor cell lysyl oxidase like-2 in cancer development: synergy with PDGF-AB. Oncogenesis. 2019 May 13; 8(5):34. PMID: 31086173.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 7/3/2018
de la Cueva A, Emmerling M, Lim SL, Yang S, Trackman PC, Sonenshein GE, Kirsch KH. A polymorphism in the lysyl oxidase propeptide domain accelerates carcinogen-induced cancer. Carcinogenesis. 2018 07 03; 39(7):921-930. PMID: 29579155.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 5/22/2018
Saxena D, Mahjour F, Findlay AD, Mously EA, Kantarci A, Trackman PC. Multiple Functions of Lysyl Oxidase Like-2 in Oral Fibroproliferative Processes. J Dent Res. 2018 10; 97(11):1277-1284. PMID: 29787337.
Read at: PubMed
View 107 more publications: View full profile at BUMC