Lin Valerie Chunling

Assistant Professor
PhD, University of Reading, U.K

Tel: (65) 6316 2843 
Fax: (65) 6791 3856 
Email: cllin@ntu.edu.sg

Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Pharmacy & Pharmacology, University of Bath, UK

Research Scientist, Department of Physiology, National University of Singapore

Senior Scientist, Principle Investigator, Department of Clinical Research, Singapore General Hospital.

My research has been primarily focused on endocrine and paracrine regulation of mammary development and breast cancer. My lab is actively pursuing the following three topics:

• Study of functional differences between progesterone receptor isoform A and and isoform B. The ovarian hormone progesterone plays important roles in reproduction. It is also implicated in the development of breast cancer although the exact function is not clear. The effect of progesterone are mediated by specific progesterone receptor (PR). PR are expressed as two protein isforms, PR-A and PR-B, that are transcribed by different translation initiation sites of the PR gene. There are evidence that PR-A and PR-B mediate different functions of progesterone. There are also differences in the ratio of PR-A and PR-B expression in different target organs of progesterone and in different breast cancer patients. We have established cell lines expressing PR-A or PR-B to address specific roles of the two PR isoforms. The understanding of the functional differences of PR isoforms will allow us to design selective PR modulators that are targeted at different isoforms for specific malfunction.
• Regulation of gene expression and of cell signaling by progesterone Progesterone is involved in many biochemical processes of the target organ. Understanding what genes and processes are involved in functions and diseases is essential for designing therapies that are targeted at specific pathways to minimize the side effects.
• Wnt signaling in breast cancer Wnt proteins form one of the major families of secreted ligands that play key roles in developmental signaling. There is also considerable evidence that the Wnt pathway plays a role in cancer. We are interested in the roles of Wnt-5a in cell proliferation, differentiation and cell adhesion of breast cancer.

• Leo JC, Wang SM, Guo CH, Aw SE, Zhao Y, Li JM, Hui KM, Lin VC. (2005)Gene regulation profile reveals consistent anticancer properties of progesterone in hormone-independent breast cancer cells transfected with progesterone receptor. Int J Cancer. 2005 Jun 8; [Epub ahead of print]

• Zheng ZY, Bay BH, Aw SE, Lin VC. (2005) A novel antiestrogenic mechanism in progesterone receptor-transfected breast cancer cells. J Biol Chem. 280(17):17480-7

• Leo JC, Guo C, Woon CT, Aw SE, Lin VC. (2004)  Glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid cross-talk with progesterone receptor to induce focal adhesion and growth inhibition in breast cancer cells. Endocrinology. 145(3):1314-21

• Lin VC, Woon CT, Aw SE, Guo C. (2003) Distinct molecular pathways mediate progesterone-induced growth inhibition and focal adhesion. Endocrinology. 144(12):5650-7.

• Lin VC, Jin R, Tan PH, Aw SE, Woon CT, Bay BH. (2003)  Progesterone induces cellular differentiation in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells transfected with progesterone receptor complementary DNA. Am J Pathol. 162(6):1781-7.

• Lin VC, Aw SE, Ng EH, Ng EH, Tan MG. (2001) Demonstration of mixed properties of RU486 in progesterone receptor (PR)-transfected MDA-MB-231 cells: a model for studying the functions of progesterone analogues. Br J Cancer. 2001 Dec 14;85(12):1978-86.

• Lin VC, Eng AS, Hen NE, Ng EH, Chowdhury SH. (2001) Effect of progesterone on the invasive properties and tumor growth of progesterone receptor-transfected breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231. Clin Cancer Res. 7(9):2880-6.

• Jin R, Bay BH, Chow VT, Tan PH, Lin VC (2000) .Metallothionein 1E mRNA is highly expressed in oestrogen receptor-negative human invasive ductal breast cancer. Br J Cancer.83(3):319-23.

• Lin VC, Ng EH, Aw SE, Tan MG, Ng EH, Bay BH. (2000)  Progesterone induces focal adhesion in breast cancer cells MDA-MB-231 transfected with progesterone receptor complementary DNA. Mol Endocrinol. 14(3):348-58.

• Lin VC, Ng EH, Aw SE, Tan MG, Ng EH, Chan VS, Ho GH. (1999) Progestins inhibit the growth of MDA-MB-231 cells transfected with progesterone receptor complementary DNA. Clin Cancer Res. 5(2):395-403.