Background
Dr. Jason Kenealey graduated from Brigham Young University in 2005 with a B.S. in biochemistry and a minor in business. Dr. Kenealey completed his dissertation in the laboratory of Dr. Arthur S. Polans and received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2011. Dr. Kenealey continued his training as a post doctoral fellow at the National Institutes of Health in the Laboratory of Dr. S. Patricia Becerra. Dr. Kenealey now lives in Orem with his wife and four children.
Cancer Research
Nature provides a diverse and copious library of chemical structures. These naturally occurring molecules have been utilized as therapeutics for thousands of years. The importance of natural products continues to be apparent in medicine today as roughly 70% of FDA approved drugs are natural products or close derivatives.
My lab's objective is to further utilizes the natural chemical library by (1) identifying natural compounds with chemotherapeutic activity, (2) elucidating the molecular mechanism of these compounds, and (3) determining the structural elements in the molecule that confer the anti-cancer activity. To achieve these objectives my lab uses a combination of live-cell imaging and biochemical approaches.
Publications
Publications:
Peterson J, Oblad R, Mecham J, Kenealey JD. Resveratrol inhibits plasma membrane Ca2+ ATPase in MDA-MB-231 cells, inducing an increase in [Ca2+]IUnder Review.
van Ginkel PR, Yan MB, Bhattacharya S, Polans AS, Kenealey JD. Natural products induce a G protein-mediated calcium pathway activating p53 in cancer cells. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol. 2015 288(3):453-62.
Kenealey JD, Subramanian P, Comitato A, Bullock J, Keehan L, Polato F, Hoover D, Marigo V, Becerra SP. Small Retinoprotective Peptides Reveal a Receptor-binding Region on Pigment Epithelium-derived Factor. J Biol Chem. 2015 290(42):25241-53.
Kanavi M, Darjatmoko S, Wang S, Azari A, Farnoodian M, Kenealey JD, van Ginkel P, Albert D, Sheibani N, Polans AS. The Sustained Delivery of Resveratrol or a Defined Grape Powder Inhibits New Blood Vessel Formation in a Mouse Model of Choroidal Neovascularization. 2014 Molecules. 19 (11), 17578-603.
Subramanian P, Locatelli-Hoops S, Kenealey JD, DesJardin J, Notari L, Becerra SP. Pigment Epithelium-derived Factor (PEDF) Prevents Retinal Cell Death via Pigment Epithelium-derived Factor-R (PEDF-R): Identification of a Functional Ligand Binding Site. 2013. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 288 (33): 23928-42.