Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine

Kit S. Lam, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor and Chair
Oak Park Research Building, Sacramento Campus
(916) 734-0910
e-mail

Research Interests

For more information, visit the Kit Lam Laboratory website.

Dr. Lam is an expert in combinatorial chemistry, chemical biology, drug development, molecular imaging, nanotherapeutics and medical oncology. His laboratory is engaged in the development and application of combinatorial library methods for basic research and drug discovery. In addition to cancer drug development, he is also interested in signal transduction, antibiotics development, molecular immunology, chemical microarray, and proteomics. Dr. Lam is both a practicing medical oncologist and a laboratory investigator. He is distinguished for revolutionizing cancer diagnosis and treatment and is acclaimed for his pioneering role in the field of combinatorial chemistry and developing the novel one-bead-one-compound technology, which rapidly screens millions of chemicals at one time to identify those that bind to diseased cells. The tool is advancing the early detection and precise delivery of treatments for brain, breast, prostate, pancreatic, lymphoma and other cancers. In addition, it is advancing the discovery of imaging agents that produce highly detailed molecular profiles of diseases for improved diagnosis and tracking medication effectiveness. His development and applications of combinatorial chemistry and other chemical methods look to solve many biomedical problems. Dr. Lam invented the “one-bead-one-compound” (OBOC) combinatorial library method, filed the patents (The basic patents on the OBOC technology was issued in 1996, 1997, and 1999 by the US patent office), and published the technique in Nature in 1991. This represents one of the first few reports in the new field of combinatorial chemistry at the time. Since then, the field of combinatorial chemistry has rapidly evolved into a new chemistry discipline, and four scientific journals are now devoted to this field (J of Combinatorial Chemistry, Combinatorial Chemistry and Highthroughput Screening, Molecular Diversity, and QSAR Combinatorial Science). Combinatorial chemistry has become an indispensable tool in drug development and chemical research. The OBOC combinatorial library approach is unique and truly an ultra-high throughput method, as thousands to millions of chemical compounds (peptides, peptidomimetics, small molecules, and macrocyclic natural product like molecules) can be efficiently synthesized and screened in parallel in a relatively short time. Combinatorial chemistry has also provided strong impetus for the new field of “chemical genetics”.

In addition to expanding the use of one-bead-one-compound technology, Dr. Lam's research also includes developing a blood test for ovarian-cancer detection, utilizing nanoparticle carriers for drug delivery and synthesizing cancer-fighting molecules with less-toxic side effects. He is currently collaborating on projects to identify the molecular pathogenesis of and treatments for primary biliary cirrhosis, osteoporosis and Alzheimer's disease.

 

Representative Publications

2011 Li Y, Xiao K, Luo J, Xiao W, Lee JS, Gonik AM, Kato J, Dong T, and Lam KS. Well-defined, Reversible Disulfide Cross-linked Micelles for On-demand Paclitaxel Delivery. Biomaterial, in press.

2011 Shi L, Fleming CJ, Riechers SL, Yin NN, Luo J, Lam KS, Liu GY. High-Resolution Imaging of Dendrimers Used in Drug Delivery via Scanning Probe Microscopy. Journal of Drug Delivery, in press.

2011 Kumaresan P, Wang Y, Saunders M, Maeda Y, Wang X, Liu R, Lam KS. Rapid Discovery of Death Ligands with One-Bead-Two-Compound Combinatorial Library Methods". Journal of Combinatorial Sciences. 13: 259-264, 2011.

2011 Xiao K, Li Y, Luo J, Lee JS, Xiao W, Gonik AM, Agarwal R, Lam KS. The effect of surface charge on in vivo biodistribution of PEG-oligocholic acid based micellar nanoparticles. Biomaterials. 32:3435-3446.. PMCID: In process

2010 Berti L, Woldeyesus T, Li Y, Lam KS. Maximization of loading and stability of ssDNA:iron oxide nanoparticle complexes formed through electrostatic interaction. Langmuir. 26:18293-18299.

2010 Townsend JB, Shaheen F, Liu R, Lam KS. Jeffamine Derivatized TentaGel Beads and Poly(dimethylsiloxane) Microbead Cassettes for Ultrahigh-Throughput in Situ Releasable Solution-Phase Cell-Based Screening of One-Bead-One-Compound Combinatorial Small Molecule Libraries. J Comb Chem. 12(5):700-712. PMCID: In process.

2010 Luo J, Xiao K, Li Y, Lee JS, Shi L, Tan YH, Xing L, Holland Cheng R, Liu GY, Lam KS. Well-defined, size-tunable, multifunctional micelles for efficient paclitaxel delivery for cancer treatment. Bioconjug Chem. 21(7):1216-24. PMC2912451.

2010 Townsend J, Do A, Lehman A, Dixon S, Sanii B, Lam KS. 3-Nitro-tyrosine as an internal quencher of autofluorescence enhances the compatibility of fluorescence based screening of OBOC combinatorial libaries. Comb Chem High Throughput Screen. 13:422-429. PMCID: In process.

2010 Li Y, Xiao K, Luo J, Lee J, Pan S, Lam KS. A novel size-tunable nanocarrier system for targeted anticancer drug delivery. J Control Release. 144(3):314-23. Epub 2010 Mar 6. PMC2878919

2009 Baek HG, Liu R, Lam KS. Development of hydrogel TentaGel shell-core beads for ultrahigh throughput solution-phase screening of encoded OBOC combinatorial small molecule libraries. J Comb Chem, 11(1): 91-102.

2009 Carpenter RD, Andrei M, Aina OH, Lau EY, Lightstone FC, Liu R, Lam KS, Kurth MJ. Selectively targeting T- and B-cell lymphomas: a benzothiazole antagonist of alpha4beta1 integrin. J Med Chem, 52(1): 14-9.

2009 Denardo SJ, Liu R, Albrecht H, Natarajan A, Sutcliffe JL, Anderson C, Peng L, Ferdani R, Cherry SR, Lam KS. 111In-LLP2A-DOTA Polyethylene Glycol-Targeting {alpha}4{beta}1 Integrin: Comparative Pharmacokinetics for Imaging and Therapy of Lymphoid Malignancies. J Nucl Med, 50(4): 625-34.

2009 Kappel JC, Fan YC, Lam KS. Application of the "libraries from libraries" concept to "one-bead one-compound" combinatorial chemistry. Adv Exp Med Biol, 611: 21-2.

2009 Kenyon NJ, Liu R, O'Roark EM, Huang W, Peng L, Lam KS. An alpha4beta1 integrin antagonist decreases airway inflammation in ovalbumin-exposed mice. Eur J Pharmacol, 603(1-3): 138-46.

2009 Kim TH, Venugopal SK, Zhu M, Wang SS, Lau D, Lam KS, Clemens DL, Zern MA. A novel small molecule, LAS-0811, inhibits alcohol-induced apoptosis in VL-17A cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 379(4): 876-81.

2009 Kumaresan PR, Luo J, Lam KS. On-demand cleavable linkers for radioimmunotherapy. Methods Mol Biol, 539: 191-211.

2009 Luo J, Onofiok E, Shi C, Liu R, Lam KS. A novel hydrogel functionalized with specific peptidomimetic ligands for 2-D and 3-D cell culture. Adv Exp Med Biol, 611: 19-20.

2009 Nair RR, Emmons MF, Cress AE, Argilagos RF, Lam K, Kerr WT Wang HG, Dalton WS, Hazlehurst LA. HYD1-induced increase in reactive oxygen species leads to autophagy and necrotic cell death in multiple myeloma cells. Mol Cancer Ther, 8(8): 2441-51.

2009 Saegusa J, Yamaji S, Ieguchi K, Wu CY, Lam KS, Liu FT, Takada YK, Takada Y. The direct binding of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) to integrin alphavbeta3 is involved in IGF-1 signaling. J Biol Chem, 284(36): 24106-14.

2009 Sun YS, Landry JP, Fei YY, Zhu XD, Luo JT, Wang XB, Lam KS. Macromolecular scaffolds for immobilizing small molecule microarrays in label-free detection of protein-ligand interactions on solid support. Anal Chem, 81(13): 5373-80.

2009 Xiang B, Lam KS, Sun G. Functional fibrous polypropylene solid support and its application in solid phase peptide synthesis and cell specific binding. Reactive & Functional Polymers, 69: 905-914.

 

Recent/Current Teaching

Upper division courses
  • 192 Internship in Biological Chemistry
  • 198 Group Study
  • 199 Special Study for Advanced Undergraduates
Graduate courses
  • 298 Group Study
  • 299 Research
Professional courses for medical students
  • 410A Molecular and Cell Biology
  • 410B Cell Biology and Metabolism
  • 414 Molecular Medicine
  • 491 Human Genetics Seminar
  • 497 Tutoring in Biological Chemistry
  • 498 Group Study
  • 499 Research

 

Honors and Awards

  • 2008 Fellow of American College of Physicians
  • 2009 “Above and Beyond Mentor Award” from the Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology at UC Davis
  • 2010 Harold Albin Johnson endowed Chair in Biomedical Research.