Adam C. Gower, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor of Medicine
Education
B.S., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 1997
M.S., Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, 2000
Ph.D., Bioinformatics, Boston University, Boston, MA, 2012
Contact Information
Email: agower@bu.edu
Office: E632
Phone: 617-358-7138
Research Interests
openSESAME (Search of Expression Signatures Across Many Experiments). The growing volume of microarray data available in public repositories such as the NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) represents a catalog of the consequences of a large number of experimental perturbations and biological states at the level of gene expression. To leverage this data, we have developed a fast, pattern-based computational approach, openSESAME (Search of Expression Signatures Across Many Experiments), that identifies datasets enriched in samples that display coordinate differential expression of a signature of up- and down-regulated genes. We are developing a public web-based implementation of openSESAME that will allow the scientific community to connect their own gene expression signatures to public datasets based on common patterns of coordinate differential expression and to identify experimental or biological phenotypes that are associated with these patterns.
Progression of lung squamous cell cancer (SCC). Lung carcinogenesis is a process driven by numerous events that occur at the molecular level, including changes in gene expression and copy number. We are using massively parallel RNA sequencing to perform transcriptomic profiling of cells that have been microdissected from normal, progressively preneoplastic, and cancerous regions of the lungs of individual smokers with lung SCC. The use of each patient as their own control will allow us to identify molecular changes that are associated with cancer initiation and progression within an individual, eliminating the confounding variables that are present in a cross-sectional analysis. The identification of molecular changes that are frequently present in preneoplastic lesions may provide biomarkers for the early detection of lung SCC and new targets for chemopreventative treatment in smokers at risk for this disease.
Publications
Beane J, Vick J, Schembri F, Anderlind C, Gower A, Campbell J, Luo L, Zhang XH, Xiao J, Alekseyev YO, Wang S, Levy S, Massion PP, Lenburg M, Spira A. Characterizing the Impact of Smoking and Lung Cancer on the Airway Transcriptome Using RNA-Seq. Cancer Prev Res 2011 4(6):803-17.
Gower AC, Steiling K, Brothers JF 2nd, Lenburg ME, Spira A. Transcriptomic studies of the airway field of injury associated with smoking-related lung disease. Proc Am Thorac Soc 2011 8(2):173-9.
Ooi AT, Mah V, Nickerson DW, Gilbert JL, Ha VL, Hegab AE, Horvath S, Alavi M, Maresh EL, Chia D, Gower AC, Lenburg ME, Spira A, Solis LM, Wistuba II, Walser TC, Wallace WD, Dubinett SM, Goodglick L, Gomperts BN. Presence of a putative tumor-initiating progenitor cell population predicts poor prognosis in smokers with non-small cell lung cancer. Cancer Res 2010 70(16):6639-48.
Prushik SG, Stucchi AF, Matteotti R, Aarons CB, Reed KL, Gower AC, Becker JM. Open adhesiolysis is more effective in reducing adhesion reformation than laparoscopic adhesiolysis in an experimental model. Br J Surg 2010 97(3):420-7.
Stucchi AF, Shebani KO, Reed KL, Gower AC, Alapatt MF, Crivello KM, McClung JP, Becker JM. Stasis predisposes ileal pouch inflammation in a rat model of ileal pouch-anal anastomosis. J Surg Res. 2010 164(1):75-83.
Lim R, Morrill JM, Lynch RC, Reed KL, Gower AC, Leeman SE, Stucchi AF, Becker JM. Practical limitations of bioresorbable membranes in the prevention of intra-abdominal adhesions. J Gastrointest Surg 2009 13(1):35-41.
Lim R, Morrill JM, Prushik SG, Reed KL, Gower AC, Leeman SE, Stucchi AF, Becker JM. An FDA approved neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist is effective in reducing intraabdominal adhesions when administered intraperitoneally, but not orally. J Gastrointest Surg 2008 12(10):1754-61.
DeStefano AL, Latourelle J, Lew MF, Suchowersky O, Klein C, Golbe LI, Mark MH, Growdon JH, Wooten GF, Watts R, Guttman M, Racette BA, Perlmutter JS, Marlor L, Shill HA, Singer C, Goldwurm S, Pezzoli G, Saint-Hilaire MH, Hendricks AE, Gower A, Williamson S, Nagle MW, Wilk JB, Massood T, Huskey KW, Baker KB, Itin I, Litvan I, Nicholson G, Corbett A, Nance M, Drasby E, Isaacson S, Burn DJ, Chinnery PF, Pramstaller PP, Al-Hinti J, Moller AT, Ostergaard K, Sherman SJ, Roxburgh R, Snow B, Slevin JT, Cambi F, Gusella JF, Myers RH. Replication of association between ELAVL4 and Parkinson disease: the GenePD study. Hum Genet 2008 124(1):95-9.
Cohen PA, Gower AC, Stucchi AF, Leeman SE, Becker JM, Reed KL. A neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist that reduces intraabdominal adhesion formation increases peritoneal matrix metalloproteinase activity. Wound Repair Regen 2007 15(6):800-808.
Heydrick SJ, Reed KL, Cohen PA, Aarons CB, Gower AC, Becker JM, Stucchi AF. Intraperitoneal administration of methylene blue attenuates oxidative stress, increases peritoneal fibrinolysis, and inhibits intraabdominal adhesion formation. J Surg Res 2007 143(2):311-319.
Reed KL, Heydrick SJ, Aarons CB, Prushik S, Gower AC, Stucchi AF, Becker JM. A neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist that reduces intra-abdominal adhesion formation decreases oxidative stress in the peritoneum. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 2007 293(3):G544-551.
Prushik SG, Aaron CB, Matteotti R, Reed KL, Gower AC, Leeman SE, Stucchi AF, Becker JM. A neurokinin 1 receptor antagonist decreases adhesion formation after laparoscopic lysis of adhesions in a rat model of adhesion formation. Surg Endosc 2007 21(10):1790-1795.
Cohen PA, Aarons CB, Gower AC, Stucchi AF, Leeman SE, Becker JM, Reed KL. The effectiveness of a single intraperitoneal infusion of a neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist in reducing postoperative adhesion formation is time dependent. Surgery 2007 141(3):368-375.
Aarons CB, Cohen PA, Gower A, Reed KL, Leeman SE, Stucchi AF, Becker JM. Statins (HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors) decrease postoperative adhesions by increasing peritoneal fibrinolytic activity. Ann Surg 2007 245(2):176-84.
Stucchi A, Reed K, O’Brien M, Cerda S, Andrews C, Gower A, Bushell K, Amar S, Leeman S, Becker J. A new transcription factor that regulates TNF-alpha gene expression, LITAF, is increased in intestinal tissues from patients with CD and UC. Inflamm Bowel Dis 2006 12(7):581-7.
Reed KL, Fruin AB, Gower AC, Gonzales KD, Stucchi AF, Andry CD, O’Brien M, Becker JM. NFkB activation precedes increases in mRNA encoding neurokinin-1 receptor, proinflammatory cytokines, and adhesion molecules in dextran sodium sulfate-induced colitis in rats. Dig Dis Sci 2005 50(12):2366-78.
Reed KL, Fruin AB, Gower AC, Stucchi AF, Leeman SE, Becker JM. A neurokinin 1 receptor antagonist decreases postoperative peritoneal adhesion formation and increases peritoneal fibrinolytic activity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2004 101(24):9115-20.
Stucchi AF, Shebani KO, Leeman SE, Wang CC, Reed KL, Fruin AB, Gower AC, McClung JP, Andry CD, O’Brien MJ, Pothoulakis C, Becker JM. A neurokinin 1 receptor antagonist reduces an ongoing ileal pouch inflammation and the response to a subsequent inflammatory stimulus. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 2003 285(6):G1259-67.
Reed KL, Fruin AB, Bishop-Bartolomei KK, Gower AC, Nicolaou M, Stucchi AF, Leeman SE, Becker JM. Neurokinin-1 receptor and substance P messenger RNA levels increase during intraabdominal adhesion formation. J Surg Res 2002 108(1):165-172.