{{Short description|American biologist}} {{Multiple issues| {{BLP sources|date=February 2022}} {{Orphan|date=February 2022}} {{Undisclosed paid|date=May 2022}} }} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix = <!-- see MOS:CREDENTIAL and MOS:HONORIFIC --> | era = | website = | education = | alma_mater = University of California, Los Angeles University of California, Irvine | thesis_title = | thesis_url = | thesis_year = | school_tradition = | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | influences = <!--must be referenced from a third-party source--> | discipline = Pharmacology, Cancer Cell Biology, Molecular Therapeutics | relatives = | sub_discipline = <!--academic discipline specialist area – e.g. Sub-atomic research, 20th-century Danish specialist, Pauline research, Arcadian and Ugaritic specialist--> | workplaces = <!--full-time positions only, not student positions--> | doctoral_students = <!--only those with WP articles--> | notable_students = <!--only those with WP articles--> | main_interests = | notable_works = | notable_ideas = | influenced = <!--must be referenced from a third-party source--> | signature = | signature_alt = | signature_size = | awards = Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Professor <br> Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, | parents = | name = Channing Der | death_place = | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = <!-- use only if different from full/othernames --> | birth_date = <!-- {{birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | birth_place = | death_date = <!-- {{death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date then birth date) --> | death_cause = | children = | nationality = | citizenship = USA | other_names = | occupation = Professor | period = | known_for = | home_town = | title = | boards = National Cancer Institute (NCI) Board of Scientific Counselors, Council Delegate for the Medical Sciences division of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) (AACR) | spouse = | partner = | footnotes = }} '''Channing Joseph Der''' is an American scientist and educator, and Sarah Graham Kenan Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology, at UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Der is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, He is recognized for his work with the Ras oncoprotein and its role in human oncogenesis.
== Education == Der earned his B.S. in biology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and his Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of California, Irvine. He completed post-doctoral work at Harvard Medical School, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-11-26 |title=Channing Der named AAAS Fellow |url=https://unclineberger.org/news-archives/der-named-aaas-fellow/ |access-date=2022-06-09 |website=UNC Lineberger |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Services |first=Academic |title=Channing Der '75 {{!}} eeb alumni news |url=https://sites.lifesci.ucla.edu/eeb-alumninews/channing-der-75/ |access-date=2022-06-09 |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Research == Der has made contributions to the fields of molecular pharmacology and cancer cell biology. One early discovery was the presence of activated Ras oncogenes in human cancers in 1982, marking the identification of the very first cancer genes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Der |first1=C. J. |last2=Krontiris |first2=T. G. |last3=Cooper |first3=G. M. |date=June 1982 |title=Transforming genes of human bladder and lung carcinoma cell lines are homologous to the ras genes of Harvey and Kirsten sarcoma viruses |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=79 |issue=11 |pages=3637–3640 |doi=10.1073/pnas.79.11.3637 |pmc=346478 |pmid=6285355|bibcode=1982PNAS...79.3637D |doi-access=free }}</ref> RAS genes comprise the most frequently mutated oncogene family in human cancers. The pursuit of anti-RAS therapeutic strategies has been a major focus of his research studies.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-03-06 |title=The epic battle with cancer's 'Death Star' |url=http://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/06/the-long-war-on-cancer-death-star-gene-proteins-new-medicines |access-date=2022-05-20 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>
A second was that RAS oncoprotein function is dependent on modification by a farnesyl isoprenoid lipid group.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Casey |first1=P. J. |last2=Solski |first2=P. A. |last3=Der |first3=C. J. |last4=Buss |first4=J. E. |date=November 1989 |title=p21ras is modified by a farnesyl isoprenoid |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=86 |issue=21 |pages=8323–8327 |doi=10.1073/pnas.86.21.8323 |pmc=298273 |pmid=2682646|bibcode=1989PNAS...86.8323C |doi-access=free }}</ref> This discovery prompted intense pharmaceutical industry pursuit of inhibitors of the farnesyltransferase enzyme that catalyzes this lipid modification on RAS and other proteins.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kato |first1=K. |last2=Cox |first2=A. D. |last3=Hisaka |first3=M. M. |last4=Graham |first4=S. M. |last5=Buss |first5=J. E. |last6=Der |first6=C. J. |date=1992-07-15 |title=Isoprenoid addition to Ras protein is the critical modification for its membrane association and transforming activity |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=89 |issue=14 |pages=6403–6407 |doi=10.1073/pnas.89.14.6403 |pmc=49509 |pmid=1631135|bibcode=1992PNAS...89.6403K |doi-access=free }}</ref> This has led to a current Phase 2 clinical trial using farnesyltransferase inhibitors to inhibit HRAS-driven head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. In collaborative studies with Francis Collins, MD (former Director, National Institutes of Health), he also demonstrated that these inhibitors corrected the protein defect that causes progeria, a disease of “rapid aging”.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Capell |first1=Brian C. |last2=Erdos |first2=Michael R. |last3=Madigan |first3=James P. |last4=Fiordalisi |first4=James J. |last5=Varga |first5=Renee |last6=Conneely |first6=Karen N. |last7=Gordon |first7=Leslie B. |last8=Der |first8=Channing J. |last9=Cox |first9=Adrienne D. |last10=Collins |first10=Francis S. |date=2005-09-06 |title=Inhibiting farnesylation of progerin prevents the characteristic nuclear blebbing of Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=102 |issue=36 |pages=12879–12884 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0506001102 |pmc=1200293 |pmid=16129833|bibcode=2005PNAS..10212879C |doi-access=free }}</ref> This discovery set the stage for the recent FDA approval of farnesyltransferase inhibitors as the only treatment for this rare childhood disease. A third finding is the discovery of a therapeutic approach that ERK inhibition increases pancreatic cancer addiction to autophagy. Autophagy, derived from the Greek meaning “eating of self”, is a process whereby cancer cells acquire the energy needed to maintain their high growth capacity. This autophagy connection led Der to initiate, together with clinicians at the MD Anderson Cancer Center, a new clinical trial evaluating the combination of the MEK inhibitor binimetinib with the autophagy inhibitor hydroxychloroquine in pancreatic cancer (NCT04132505).
== Awards and recognition == Der is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-11-26 |title=Channing Der named AAAS Fellow |url=https://unclineberger.org/news-archives/der-named-aaas-fellow/ |access-date=2022-05-20 |website=UNC Lineberger |language=en-US}}</ref> a recipient of the NCI Outstanding Investigator Award, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Mentor Award, the Hyman L. Battle Distinguished Cancer Research Award, and the University of California, Irvine Distinguished Alumni Award. He is also recipient of an Einstein BIH Visiting Fellow Award.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Channing Der–Einstein Foundation Berlin |url=https://www.einsteinfoundation.de/en/people-projects/einstein-bih-visiting-fellows/channing-der/ |access-date=2022-05-20 |website=www.einsteinfoundation.de}}</ref>
== References ==
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== External links == * [https://derlabunc.com/category/channing-j-der/ Der Lab website]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Der, Channing}} Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:UCLA College of Letters and Science alumni Category:University of California, Irvine alumni Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty Category:American microbiologists Category:American cancer researchers Category:Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science