Red X iconGreen tick iconYellow tick icon

Kenny ChitcholtanSenior Research Fellow

BSc(N Territory), PhD(Cant)

Tel +64 21 0253 5924
Email kenny.chitcholtan@otago.ac.nz

Research Interests

My research interests are focusing on the activity of tyrosine kinases, targeted inhibitors, effects of ascitic fluid ,and anti-tumour properties of natural food compounds in the progression of advanced ovarian cancer.

To understand these factors, I am using three dimensional (3D) cell cultures, chicken embryos and a syngeneic mouse model to investigate the biological activity in ovarian cancer.

Tyrosine kinases and targeted blockers in ascitic ovarian cancer cells

Receptor tyrosine kinases including EGFR, HER-2 and c-Met and non receptor tyrosine kinase including Jaks are selectively expressed in primary tissue and metastatic tumour of advanced ovarian cancer cells.

Their over expression is positively correlated with a poor prognosis in the advanced disease. Despite wealth information of these tyrosine kinase expressions and activation, little is known about the biological activity of tyrosine kinases in ovarian cancer cells are present in ascitic fluid.

This project is investigating the expression and activation of tyrosine kinases in ovarian cancer cells isolated from ascitic fluid. The proteomic profiles of each tyrosine kinases are explored in order to identify drugable targeted blockers.

Effects of ascitic fluid on ovarian cancer cells

Women with advanced disease often have with the accumulation of ascites in the abdominal cavity.

The ascitic fluid contains a mixture of cytokines, growth factors, chemokines and bioactive lipid molecules.

In addition, the ascitic fluid contains various of cell types including white blood cells, mesenchymal cells, red blood cells and ovarian cancer cells (single cells and clusters).

In recent years, a few studies have started to investigate the biological activity of ascitic fluid,which is believed to influence behavior of ovarian cancer cells.

Even though the exact insight mechanisms of how ascitic fluid exert to ovarian cancer cells is poorly defined, my research suggests that ascitic fluid can increase expression of oncogenic proteins in ovarian cancer cells and reduce the cellular uptake of targeted drugs.

Anti-tumour properties of naturally occurring compounds

Naturally occurring compounds have been an integral part of modern cancer research for many years.

These compounds are cheap and easily accessible for general public.

Toxicity profile of natural compounds are favourable. Therefore, anti-tumour properties of natural compounds are intensively investigated.

I am interested in the biological activity of resveratrol and its derivatives. Resveratrol shows anti-tumour activities in an in vitro in various tumour types including ovarian cancer.

However, there is big cap of knowledge whether resveratrol is really active in an in vivo model and human.

Furthermore, due to the rapid metabolism of resveratrol in vivo and human, the derivatives of resveratrol could provide a better natural compound that could have potential anti-tumour in vivo condition.

Publications

Chitcholtan, K., Singh, M., Tino, A., Garrill, A., & Sykes, P. (2024). Effects of resveratrol on in vivo ovarian cancer cells implanted on the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) of a chicken embryo model. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 25, 4374. doi: 10.3390/ijms25084374 Journal - Research Article

Paumann-Page, M., Smith-Diaz, C., Kumar, A., Chitcholtan, K., Hampton, M., & Winterbourn, C. (2023). Peroxidasin: A novel modulator of melanoma cell invasion. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (NZSBMB) 50th Anniversary Conference. Retrieved from https://www.nzsbmb.org/conference Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Majid, M. A., Chitcholtan, K., Sykes, P. H., & Evans, J. J. (2023). The effects of the obesity-related hormones leptin, insulin, IGF-I and adiponectin on Ishikawa and HEC-1A, MCF-7 and SKOV-3 cancer cell lines. EC Gynaecology, 12(8). Retrieved from https://ecronicon.net/ec_gynaecology Journal - Research Article

Chitcholtan, K., Dyer, A., & Sykes, P. (2023). Predicting tumour progression of ID-8 syngeneic mouse ovarian cancer with blood biomarkers fo CA-125, IL-6 and VEGF: A prospective laboratory-based study. Clinical & Experimental Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 50(10), 212. doi: 10.31083/j.ceog5010212 Journal - Research Article

Yunianto, I., Currie, M., Chitcholtan, K., & Sykes, P. (2023). Potential drug repurposing of ruxolitinib to inhibit the JAK/STAT pathway for the treatment of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Research, 49, 2563-2574. doi: 10.1111/jog.15761 Journal - Research Other

Back to top