Gary Luker, M.D.
Assistant Professor,
Departments of Radiology and 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, Gupta M, Luker GD.  Imaging CXCR4 signaling with firefly luciferase complementation.  Anal Chem 2008;80:5565-73.

Eliane JP, Repollet M, Luker KE, Brown M, Rae JM, Dontu G, Schott AF, Wicha M, Doyle GV, Hayes DF, Luker GD.  Monitoring serial changes in circulating human breast cancer cells in murine xenograft models.  Cancer Res 2008; 68:5529-32. 

Pichler A, Prior JL, Luker GD, Piwnica-Worms D.  Generation of a highly inducible Gal4àFluc universal reporter mouse for in vivo bioluminescence imaging.  Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2008; 105:15932-7.

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

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 B, Luker GD.  Ligands regulate interaction of CXCR7 with beta-arrestin.  Neoplasia 2009, in press.