Andrew Thorburn, D Phil
Professor Emeritus
Contact Information:
University of Colorado Denver
Department of Pharmacology
Mail Stop 8303, RC1-South
12801 East 17th Ave
Aurora CO 80045
Phone: (303) 724-3290
Fax: (303) 724-3663
E-mail: andrew.thorburn@cuanschutz.edu
Office: RC1-South,
L18-6104
Our lab studies the role of autophagy in cell death as it relates to cancer development, progression and treatment. Autophagy is the main cellular recycling method that delivers cellular material to the lysosome and is intimately connected to cell death.
Research Project Areas
• Why do some cancer cells rely on autophagy and does this reliance create a therapeutic window allowing autophagy inhibitors to be a useful cancer treatment?
• How does autophagy control programmed cell death mechanisms by apoptosis and necroptosis?
• How does autophagy affect the efficacy of anti-cancer drugs?
Autophagy regulates tumor cell response to chemotherapy by degrading the transcription factor FOXO3a to control apoptosis through the PUMA gene.
Cell Reports, 2014 &
Developmental Cell, 2018
Autophagy-dependent and –independent cancer. Selection of a custom shRNA library targeting ~130 autophagy regulators separates breast cancer cells on the basis of their autophagy-dependence. Cancer Research, 2014
Autophagy controls switching between necroptosis and apoptosis by regulating necroptosome complexes on autophagosomal structures detected by immune electron microscopy (A) and proximity ligation assay (B). Developmental Cell, 2016.
Current Lab Members
| First Name | Last Name | Middle Initial | Degree | Position |
| Jacqueline | Thorburn | S. | BTech | Senior Professional Research Assistant |
| Christina | Towers | PhD | Postdoctoral Fellow | |
| Dannah | Miller | PhD | Postdoctoral Fellow | |
| Kenneth | Tompkins | MD | Postdoctoral Fellow | |
| Darya | Wodetzki | BS | Professional Research Assistant |