Olga V. Razorenova, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Biography
Postdoctoral, Stanford University School of Medicine (Stanford, CA), 2006-2012, Molecular Biology
Ph.D., Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology (Moscow, Russia), 2006, Molecular Biology
M.S., Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia), 2000, Molecular Genetics
Research in Lay Terms
Every cell in the human body resides in a certain location, where it has an oxygen supply needed for its proper function. When oxygen conditions change, cellular behavior changes accordingly. In our lab, we study these changes in cell behavior at the molecular, cellular, and organism levels. Knowing these outcomes will help us to exploit them for stem cell maintenance, cell differentiation, cancer therapy design, stroke management.
Research Focus
The primary research focus is on the role of hypoxic micro-environment in the regulation of cell behavior.
Research Details
My primary scientific interests lie in dissecting signaling pathways regulated by hypoxia contributing to the aggressive behavior of ovarian and renal cancer stem cells (mainly metastasis); as well as understanding the role of hypoxia in the maintenance of normal epithelial stem cells. The physiologic range of oxygen for mosttissues is between 4-8% oxygen (normoxia) in contrast to the atmospheric 20% oxygen used for tissueculture experiments. Cellular hypoxia (usually <1-5% oxygen depending on the tissue) is a common stress innormal development and numerous pathological conditions, including cancer and ischemia. An hypoxicmicroenvironment is very powerful at rewiring cellular signaling pathways leading to changes in cellularbehavior ranging from metabolism (favoring glycolysis) to dedifferentiation. In recent years, hypoxicmicroenvironments have been linked to stem cell niches (such as bone marrow Hematopoietic stem cell andEmbryonic stem cell niches), reprogramming of iPS cells, as well as maintenance of Cancer Stem Cells(CSC), making it an important field of study for regenerative medicine.
PubMed Link
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=razorenova+o
Related Links
http://www.faculty.uci.edu/profile.cfm?faculty_id=5948
http://faculty.sites.uci.edu/razorenova/
http://faculty.sites.uci.edu/razorenova-lab/
