The the role of oncogenes and growth factors in cancer; signal transduction; the molecular biology of RNA tumor viruses; the control of gene expression in eukaryotes; the physical chemistry of nucleic acids; cancer virology. Tyrosine kinases and oncogenic signals: Tyrosine kinases represent major class of oncogenes. Our laboratory has developed effective approaches to define tyrosine kinases differentially expressed in cancer cells and is studying how they are activated to drive the oncogenic signals in cancers such as prostate carcinoma. ErbB, Nyk, Ret and Etk are among the tyrosine kinases being investigated. Molecular genetics of oncogenic viruses: Retroviruses induce cancers by insertional mutagenesis of host oncogenes. The insertional mechanisms and the host oncogenes involved in ALV-J myeloid leukemia are being pursued. Marek disease herpesvirus and Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus are both oncogenic viruses, each encoding a bZIP protein (i.e., MDV Meq and KSHV KbZIP). Our laboratory has identified both of them and are studying their molecular actions.
Visit Dr. Kung's website: http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/nccfar/investigatorsKung.html