James Rutka

Research Synopsis

Dr. Rutka’s laboratory has been studying the cytoskeleton as a means to increase our understanding of the mechanisms by which astrocytoma cells grow, adhere to surrounding tissues, and invade normal brain tissue. Many cytoskeleton related genes and proteins are mutated in cancer and current studies are aimed at investigating the Rho-GTPase pathway for potential targets to inhibit astrocytoma invasiveness.

The Rutka lab is actively exploring the application of novel technologies for tumour therapies including delivery of therapeutics to the tumour using gold nanoparticles and temporary disruption of the blood-brain barrier with focused ultrasound to facilitate drug entry into the tumour while avoiding damage to normal brain tissues. Dr. Rutka’s lab is interested in developing new strategies of drug delivery to metastatic medulloblastoma and patients with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma and is adapting ultrasound technology to precisely target the tumours, open the blood-brain barrier to permit drug access and deliver novel drug compounds attached to gold nanoparticles.