University of South Florida

Cancer Biology Ph.D. Program at the

Alvaro N.A. Monteiro, Ph.D. Associate Professor in the Department of Oncologic Sciences Member-in-Residence of the Moffitt Cancer Center E-mail: Alvaro.Monteiro@moffitt.org Phone: (813) 745-6321

Training
B.S.: Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Genetics, 1985
Ph.D.: Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Biochemistry, 1992
Postdoctoral Fellow: The Rockefeller University, 1994-1998

Research Interests
The long-range goal of the laboratory is to elucidate the role of genes involved in the development of breast and ovarian cancer. Our primary focus is on the function of the tumor suppressor gene BRCA1. Hereditary breast and ovarian cancer represent ~5% of all cases and inherited mutations in BRCA1 account for the majority of breast and ovarian cancer families. The human BRCA1 gene codes for a nuclear phosphoprotein, which is likely to be multifunctional. Recent genetic and biochemical evidence points to the involvement of BRCA1 in two fundamental cellular processes: DNA damage response and transcriptional regulation. The following research projects stem from our initial observations that BRCA1 is able to regulate gene expression as well as modulate the action of other transcription factors such as p53. Our immediate goals are two-fold: a) dissect the BRCA1 biochemical pathway and determine its precise biochemical function and; b) develop a functional assay to provide more reliable information for risk assessment in individuals carrying germline mutations in BRCA1.

Search for publications by:   
This search will be conducted at the US National Library of Medicine (NLM) and PubMed.

Selected Publications
1. Monteiro ANA, August A and Hanafusa H. (1996) Evidence for a transcriptional activation function of BRCA 1 C-terminal region. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 93:13595-13599.

2. Monteiro ANA, August A and Hanafusa H. (1997) Common BRCA1 variants and transcription activation. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 61:761-762.

3. Ouchi T, Monteiro ANA, August A and Hanafusa H. (1998) BRCA1 regulates p53-dependent gene expression. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:2302-2306.

4. Hayes F, Cayanan C, Barilla D, Monteiro ANA (2000) Functional assay for BRCA1: Mutagenesis of C-terminal region reveals critical residues for transcription activation. Cancer Res. 60:2411-2418.

5. Nadeau, G, Boufaied, N, Moisan, A, Lemieux, K, Cayanan, C, Monteiro ANA and Gaudreau L. (2000) BRCA1 can stimulate gene transcription by a unique mechanism. EMBO Reports 1:260-265.

6. Monteiro ANA (2000) BRCA1: exploring the links to transcription Trends Biochem. Sci. 25:469-474.

7. Vallon-Christersson J, Haraldsson K, Bergthorsson JT, Nielsen KB, Gerdes AM, Møller P, Kristoffersson U, Olsson H, Borg Å and Monteiro ANA (2001). Functional analysis of BRCA1 C-terminal missense mutations identified in breast and ovarian cancer families. Human Mol. Genet. 10:353-360.

8. Worley T, Vallon-Christersson J, Billack B, Borg Å and Monteiro ANA (2002) A Temperature-sensitive BRCA1 mutant. Cancer Biology and Therapy 1:497-501.

9. Monteiro ANA (2003) BRCA1: the enigma of tissue-specific tumor development. Trends in Genetics, 19:312-315.

10. Mirkovic N, Marti-Renom M, Weber BL, Sali A, Monteiro ANA (2004) Structural-based assessment of missense mutations in human BRCA1: Implications for breast and ovarian cancer predisposition. Cancer Res. In press.