Education Publications Contact Information

Dr. Olga Volpert graduated from Moscow State University, Russia with an MS in Microbiology. She also earned a Master's degree in Molecular Genetics from the Institute of General Genetics of the Russian National Academy of Sciences in 1988 and received her PhD in Biochemistry and Cancer Cell Biology from the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences in 1997. From 1997 to 2000 she worked as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology-Immunology in close collaboration with Dr. Noel Bouck. Her main area of study focuses on the molecular mechanisms of angiogenesis, the process by which new vascular bed forms.

In the fall of 2000 Dr. Volpert joined the Department of Urology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine as a tenure track Assistant Professor. Her laboratory currently pursues two main subjects. The first, angiogenic switch in cancer, enables tumors to grow progressively and overcome nutritional and respiratory constraints. Dr. Volpert's research includes the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying this important step. In collaboration with scientists from Johns Hopkins University she discovered that Id-1, an oncogenic transcription factor, represses the potent angiogenesis inhibitor thrombospondin and thus allows tumors to acquire an autonomous blood supply. Dr. Volpert's laboratory also focuses on the mechanisms of action of the naturally occurring inhibitors of angiogenesis, including signaling events and factors that determine endothelial cell death and survival. In close contact with colleagues at Autonomous University in Madrid, Spain, she discovered that anti-angiogenic proteins block vascular growth by killing endothelial cells within newly forming blood vessels and delineated in detail molecular events critical for this process. Her recent studies aim at identifying the rate-limiting events and molecules in the inhibitor-generated cell death and designing combination treatments that block vascular supply and suppress cancer with maximal efficacy. Some of her compounds will soon enter clinical trials.

Dr. Volpert has authored or co-authored more than 50 publications in highly rated peer-reviewed journals including Nature Medicine, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Science and the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Education

Undergraduate: Microbiology, Moscow State University, Moscow, USSR
Master's degree: Microbiology, Moscow State University, Moscow, USSR; Genetics & Molecular Biology, National Academy of Sciences, Institute of General Genetics, Moscow, USSR
Graduate: Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Center for Hematology, Moscow, Russia
Post-graduate: Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL

Selected Publications
The following publications are selected from a complete CV.  For more information on Dr. Volpert's scholarly productivity, please contact her office.

Journal Articles

1. Gillis P, Savla U, Volpert OV, Jimenez B, Waters CM, Panos RJ, Bouck NP. Keratinocyte growth factor induces angiogenesis and protects endothelial barrier function. J Cell Sci. 112(12):2049-57. 1999.
2. Zhang M, Volpert O, Shi YH, Bouck N. Maspin is an angiogenesis inhibitor. Nat Med. 6(2):196-9. 2000.
3. Schwarte-Waldhoff I, Volpert OV, Bouck NP, Sipos B, Hahn SA, Klein-Scory S, Luttges J, Kloppel G, Graeven U, Eilert-Micus C, Hintelmann A, Schmiegel W. Smad4/DPC4-mediated tumor suppression through suppression of angiogenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 97(17):9624-9. 2000.
4. Jimenez B, Volpert OV, Crawford SE, Febbraio M, Silverstein RL, Bouck N. Signals leading to apoptosis-dependent inhibition of neovascularization by thrombospondin-1. Nat Med. 6(1):41-8. 2000.
5. Crawford SE, Stellmach V, Ranalli M, Huang X, Huang L, Volpert O, De Vries GH, Abramson LP, Bouck N. Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) in neuroblastoma: a multifunctional mediator of Schwann cell antitumor activity. J Cell Sci. 114(24):4421-8. 2001.
6. Filleur S, Volpert OV, Degeorges A, Voland C, Reiher F, Clezardin P, Bouck N, Cabon F. In vivo mechanisms by which tumors producing thrombospondin 1 bypass its inhibitory effects. Genes Dev. 15(11):1373-82. 2001.
7. Toft DJ, Rosenberg SB, Bergers G, Volpert O, Linzer DI. Reactivation of proliferin gene expression is associated with increased angiogenesis in a cell culture model of fibrosarcoma tumor progression. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 98(23):13055-9. 2001.
8. Hernandez GL, Volpert OV, Iniguez MA, Lorenzo E, Martinez-Martinez S, Grau R, Fresno M, Redondo JM. Selective inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor-mediated angiogenesis by cyclosporin A: roles of the nuclear factor of activated T cells and cyclooxygenase 2. J Exp Med. 193(5):607-20. 2001.
9. Volpert OV. Modulation of endothelial cell survival by an inhibitor of angiogenesis thrombospondin-1: a dynamic balance. Cancer Metastasis Rev. 19(1-2):87-92. 2000.
10. Jimenez B, Volpert OV. Mechanistic insights on the inhibition of tumor angiogenesis. J Mol Med. 78(12):663-72. 2001.
11. Volpert OV. Hematopoiesis and angiogenesis: the same landscape from different points? J Hematother Stem Cell Res. 9(1):5-6. 2000.
12. Jimenez B, Volpert OV, Reiher F, Chang L, Munoz A, Karin M, Bouck N. c-Jun N-terminal kinase activation is required for the inhibition of neovascularization by thrombospondin-1. Oncogene. 20(26):3443-8. 2001.
13. Reiher FK, Volpert OV, Jimenez B, Crawford SE, Dinney CP, Henkin J, Haviv F, Bouck NP, Campbell SC. Inhibition of tumor growth by systemic treatment with thrombospondin-1 peptide mimetics. Int J Cancer. 98(5):682-9. 2002.
14. Holekamp NM, Bouck N, Volpert O. Pigment epithelium-derived factor is deficient in the vitreous of patients with choroidal neovascularization due to age-related macular degeneration. Am J Ophthalmol. 134(2):220-7. 2002.
15. Volpert O, Luo W, Liu TJ, Estrera VT, Logothetis C, Lin SH. Inhibition of prostate tumor angiogenesis by the tumor suppressor CEACAM1. J Biol Chem. 277(38):35696-702. 2002.
16. Volpert OV, Zaichuk T, Zhou W, Reiher F, Ferguson TA, Stuart PM, Amin M, Bouck NP. Inducer-stimulated Fas targets activated endothelium for destruction by anti-angiogenic thrombospondin-1 and pigment epithelium-derived factor. Nat Med. 8(4):349-57. 2002.
17. Volpert OV, Pili R, Sikder HA, Nelius T, Zaichuk T, Morris C, Shiflett CB, Devlin MK, Conant K, Alani RM. Id1 regulates angiogenesis through transcriptional repression of thrombospondin-1. Cancer Cell. 2(6):473-83. 2002.
18. Volpert OV, Alani RM. Wiring the angiogenic switch: Ras, Myc, and Thrombospondin-1. Cancer Cell. 3(3):199-200. 2003.
19. Chlenski A, Liu S, Crawford SE, Volpert OV, DeVries GH, Evangelista A, Yang Q, Salwen HR, Farrer R, Bray J, Cohn SL. SPARC is a key Schwannian-derived inhibitor controlling neuroblastoma tumor angiogenesis. Cancer Res. 62(24):7357-63. 2002.
20. Amin MA, Volpert OV, Woods JM, Kumar P, Harlow LA, Koch AE. Migration inhibitory factor mediates angiogenesis via mitogen-activated protein kinase and phosphatidylinositol kinase. Circ Res. 93(4):321-9. 2003.
21. Zhang YW, Su Y, Volpert OV, Vande Woude GF. Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor mediates angiogenesis through positive VEGF and negative thrombospondin 1 regulation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 100(22):12718-23. 2003.
22. Zaichuk TA, Shroff EH, Emmanuel R, Filleur S, Nelius T, Volpert OV. Nuclear factor of activated T cells balances angiogenesis activation and inhibition. J Exp Med. 199(11):1513-22. 2004.
23. Huang H, Campbell SC, Nelius T, Bedford DF, Veliceasa D, Bouck NP, Volpert OV. Alpha1-antitrypsin inhibits angiogenesis and tumor growth. Int J Cancer. 112(6):1042-8. 2004.
24. Garcia M, Fernandez-Garcia NI, Rivas V, Carretero M, Escamez MJ, Gonzalez-Martin A, Medrano EE, Volpert O, Jorcano JL, Jimenez B, Larcher F, Del Rio M. Inhibition of xenografted human melanoma growth and prevention of metastasis development by dual antiangiogenic/antitumor activities of pigment epithelium-derived factor. Cancer Res. 64(16):5632-42. 2004.
25. Huang H, Campbell SC, Bedford DF, Nelius T, Veliceasa D, Shroff EH, Henkin J, Schneider A, Bouck N, Volpert OV. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma ligands improve the antitumor efficacy of thrombospondin peptide ABT510. Mol Cancer Res. 2(10):541-50. 2004.

Contact Information

Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine
Department of Urology
303 East Chicago Avenue, Tarry 16-703
Chicago, IL 60611-3008
(312) 503-5933
Fax (312) 908-7275
olgavolp@northwestern.edu

Sharon Stafford
Administrative Assistant
(312) 908-8600
s-stafford@northwestern.edu

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Department of Urology
Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine
303 East Chicago Avenue, Tarry 16-703
Chicago, IL 60611-3008
(312) 908-8145/ Fax (312) 908-7275 E-mail: m-grant@northwestern.edu