Gary Luker, M.D.
Associate Professor of Radiology
Associate Professor of Microbiology & Immunology

gluker@umich.edu


Chemokines and chemokine receptors are emerging as key regulators of primary tumor growth and progression to metastatic disease.  In particular, chemokine CXCL12 (also referred to as SDF-1) and chemokine receptor CXCR4 are proposed to promote proliferation of tumor cells, tumor angiogenesis, cell invasion, and organ-specific metastases in more than 20 different human cancers.  Recent studies have identified CXCR7 as a second receptor for CXCL12.  CXCR7 is upregulated in a large number of human cancers and tumor-associated blood vessels, and expression of CXCR7 promotes tumor growth in mice.  Our laboratory is investigating independent and integrated functions of these chemokine receptors in cancer, focusing on breast and ovarian cancer.  As part of this research, we develop and apply new molecular imaging techniques and microtechnologies to investigate chemokine receptor signaling and functions in living cells, physiologic cell culture models, and living animal models of disease.    

Recent Publications

Luker KE, Steele JM, Mihalko LA, Ray P, Luker GD. Constitutive and chemokine-dependent internalization and recycling of CXCR7 in breast cancer cells to degrade chemokine ligands. Oncogene. 2010 Jun 7. (in press)

Luker KE, Luker GD. Bioluminescence imaging of reporter mice for studies of infection and inflammation. Antiviral Res. 2010 Apr;86(1):93-100.

Luker KE, Luker GD. Real-time bioluminescence imaging of viral pathogenesis. Methods Mol Biol. 2009;574:125-35.

Song JW, Cavnar SP, Walker AC, Luker KE, Gupta M, Tung YC, Luker GD, Takayama S. Microfluidic endothelium for studying the intravascular adhesion of metastatic breast cancer cells. PLoS One. 2009 Jun 1;4(6):e5756.

Luker KE, Gupta M, Steele JM, Foerster BR, Luker GD. Imaging ligand-dependent activation of CXCR7. Neoplasia. 2009 Oct;11(10):1022-35.

Luker KE, Gupta M, Luker GD. Imaging chemokine receptor dimerization with firefly luciferase complementation. FASEB J. 2009 Mar;23(3):823-34. Epub 2008 Nov 10.