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Faculty Detail    
Name PI-LING CHANG
  
Campus Address WEBB 404 Zip 3360
Phone  (205) 975-6624
E-mail  plchang@uab.edu
Other websites
     


Faculty Appointment(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Center  Center for AIDS Research  Center for AIDS Research Associate Professor
Center  Comp Arthritis, MSK, Bone & Autoimmunity Ctr  Comp Arthritis, MSK, Bone & Autoimmunity Ctr Associate Professor
Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center Associate Professor
Secondary  Dermatology  Dermatology Associate Professor
Center  General Clinical Research Center  Minority Health & Research Center Associate Professor
Center  Nutrition Sciences   Nutrition Obesity Res Ctr (NORC) Associate Professor
Primary  Nutrition Sciences   Nutrition Sciences Chair Office Associate Professor
Center  Pathology   Cell Adhesion & Matrix Research Center Associate Professor

Graduate Biomedical Sciences Affiliations
Cell, Molecular, & Developmental Biology 
Medical Scientist Training Program 

Biographical Sketch 
Education: 1981 B.A. with General Honors, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 1981 M.S. Biochemistry, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 1992 Ph.D. Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Alabama Positions and Employment 1981-1986 Instructor, Department of Biochemistry, King Saud University (Women’s College), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 1986-1992 Pre-doctoral Fellow, Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL(UAB) 1992-1994 Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Nutrition Sciences, (UAB) 1994-1996 Instructor, Department of Nutrition Sciences, UAB 1995-present Associate Scientist, Cell Adhesion and Matrix Research Center, UAB 1996-2002 Assistant Professor, Department of Nutrition Sciences, UAB 2002-present Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition Sciences, UAB 2010-present Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Dermatology, UAB 1997-present Scientist, Comprehensive Cancer Center, UAB 1997-present Scientist, Center for Metabolic Bone Disease, UAB 2004-present Scientist, Minority Health and Research Center, UAB 2005-present Scientist, Skin Disease Research Center, UAB Honors and Awards 1992 Kappa Phi 1992 Phi Beta Delta 1992-2012 Sigma XI 1993-1994 New Investigator Award, NCI 1995-1996 Junior Faculty Development Award, NCI 1996-2001 R29 First Award, NCI 1997-2000 Research in Oral Biology Pilot & Feasibility Grant Award 2001-2002 The Theodore S. Tromovich Memorial Award, Skin Cancer Foundation 2002-2006 Research Scholar Grant Award, American Cancer Society (Award declined due to overlap with R01) 2002-2006 R01, Investigator Initiated Grant Award, NCI 2009-2011 R01, Investigator Initiated Grant Award, NCI

Society Memberships
Organization Name Position Held Org Link
American Association for Cancer Research  Member   
American Society of Matrix Biology  Member   
American Society of Nutrition  Member   
Society of Investigative Dermatology  Member   
 



Research/Clinical Interest
Title
Osteopontin and microenvironment of initiated cells
Description
Dr. Chang's long-term goal is to elucidate the functions and molecular mechanism(s) of matricellular proteins induced in the microenvironment in tumor promotion, tumor progression and metastasis. Specifically, she is studying the secreted, adhesive glycoprotein, osteopontin (OPN). OPN expression is elevated in several types of human cancers and premalignant tumors. In vitro experiments using a preneoplastic epidermal mouse cell line provided evidence for the role of OPN as a mediator of tumor promotion. Subsequent in vivo studies using both chemically-induced two-stage skin carcinogenesis and photocarcinogenesis models indicated that indeed induced-OPN is a critical rate-limiting factor in tumor promotion and tumor progression, respectively. In both of these models, OPN is, likely, acting through enhancing the survival of initiated cells. On-going research is to address the molecular mechanism(s) by which induce-OPN enhances cell survival of initiated keratinocytes in skin carcinogenesis. Further, we have established a novel OPN-null cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) cell line derived from cSCC that developed from the two-stage skin carcinogenesis model. The novelty of this cell line is that it can develop cSCC in both OPN-null and wild-type mice. Therefore, this new model allows us for the first time to clearly define the role of host-derived OPN, instead of cancer cell-derived OPN, in cancer progression and metastasis of immune-competent mice, which recapitulates more closely of human cancer patients. Additional project in our laboratory is to assess the efficacy of novel chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of cutaneous T cell lymphomas (CTCL). The incidence of CTCL has been increasing; however, there is currently no cure. Determination of new chemotherapeutic agents that are effective and with fewer side effects can prove the quality of life of these patients.

Selected Publications 
Publication PUBMEDID
Chang PL, Hsieh YH, Wang CC, Juliana MM, Tsuruta Y, Timares L, Elmets C, Ho KJ: Osteopontin facilitates ultraviolet B-induced squamous cell carcinoma development. J Dermatol Sci, 75(2): 121-32, 2014 (Editor’s Choice).

 		  
Hsieh YH, van der Heyde H, Oh ES, Guan JL, Chang PL. Osteopontin mediates tumorigenic transformation of a preneoplastic murine cell line by suppressing anoikis: an Arg-Gly-Asp-dependent-focal adhesion kinase-caspase-8 axis. Molecular Carcinogenesis, Epub Nov 19th, 2013.   
Hsieh YH, Juliana MM, Ho KJ, Kuo, HA, van der Heyde, H, Elmets C, Chang PL. Host-derived osteopontin maintains an acute inflammatory response in the microenvironment to suppress early progression of extrinsic cancer cells. Int. J Cancer,131:322-33,2012,Epub Aug 8, 2011 PMID: 21826648   
Hsieh YH, Juliana MM, and Chang PL. Establishment and characterization of an osteopontin-null cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma cell line. In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology-Animal. 46:87-91, 2010. Epub, 2009. PMID: 19915934   
Chang PL, Harkins L, Hsieh YH, Hicks P, Sappayatosok K, Yodsanga S, Swasdison S, Chambers AF, Elmets CA, Ho KJ. Osteopontin in normal skin and non-melanoma skin tumors. J Histochem Cytochem. 2008 Jan;56(1):57-66. Epub 2007 Oct 15.   
Hsieh, Y.H., Juliana, M.M., Hicks, P., Feng, G., Elmets, G., Liaw, L., Chang, P.L. Papilloma development is delayed in osteopontin null mice: implicating an antiapoptosis role for osteopontin, Cancer Research, 66:711—7127, 2006.   
Chang, P.L., Blair, H.C., Zhao, X., Chien, Y.W., Chen, D.T., Tilden, A.B., Chang, Z., Cao, X., Faye-Petersen, O.M. and Hicks, P. Comparison of fetal and adult marrow stromal cells in osteogenesis with and without glucocorticoids. Connective Tissue Research, 47:67-76, 2006.   
Feng, G., Ohmori , Y.and Chang, P.L. Production of Chemokine CXCL1/KC by Okadaic Acid through the Nuclear Factor-ƒÛB Pathway. Advance Access publication July 2005, Carcinogenesis 27:43-52-2006.   
Kilpadi, K.L., Sawyer, A.A., Prince, C.W., Chang, P.L. and Bellis, S. Primary human marrow stromal cells and Saos-2 cells use different mechanism to adhere to hydroxyapatite. J Biomed Mater Res. 68A(2):273-285, 2004.   
Feng, G., Hicks, P. and Chang, P.L. Differential expression of mammalian and viral-promoter driven gene in adherent versus suspension cells. In Vitro Cell. Dev. Biol.-Animal 39:420-423, 2003.   
Chang, P.L., Cao, M. and Hicks, P. Osteopontin Induction is required for tumor promoter-induced transformation of preneoplastic mouse cells. Carcinogenesis 24:1749-1758, 2003.   
Ding, Q., Steward, J.Jr., Prince, C.W., Chang, P.L., Trikha, M., Han, X., Grammer, R. and Gladson, C.L. Osteopontin expression in the normal brain promotes malignant astrocytomas cell migration: differences in integrin signaling during cell adhesion to osteopontin versus vitronectin. Cancer Res 62:5336-5343, 2002.   
Chang, P-L., Tucker, M.A., Hicks, P., Prince, C.W. Novel protein kinase C isoforms and mitogen-activated kinase kinase mediate phorbol-ester-induced osteopontin expression. International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 34:1142-1151, 2002.   
Moore, N.S., Wang-Johanning, F., Chang, P.L., Johanning, G.L. Omega-3 fatty acids decrease protein kinase expression in human breast cancer cells. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 67:279-283,2001.   
Kilpadi, K.,Chang, PL, Bellis, S. Hydroxylapatite binds more serum proteins, purified integrins and osteoblast precursor cells than titanium or steel. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research 57:258-267, 2001.   
Petrow, P.K., Hummel, K.M., Schedel, J. Franz, J.K., Klein, C.L., Muller-Ladner, U., Kriegsmann, J., Chang, P.-L., Prince, C.W., Gay, R.E. and Gay, S. Expression of osteopontin messenger RNA and protein in rheumatoid arithritis. Arthritis and Rheumatism 43:1597-15605, 2000   
Gladson, CL, Stewart, J., Olman, M.A., Chang, P.L., Schnapp, L, Grammer, J.R., and Benvenista, E.N. Attachment of primary neonatal rat astrocytes to vitronectin is mediated by integrin ƒÑvƒÒ5 and ƒÑ8ƒÒ1: modulation by the type 1 plasminogen activator inhibitor. Neuroscience Letters 283:157-161, 2000   
Chang, P.L., and Chambers, A.F. Transforming JB6 cells exhibit enhanced integrin-mediated adhesion to osteopontin. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry 78:8-23, 2000   
 

Keywords
Osteopontin, Tumorigenesis, Papilloma development, Matricellular proteins, CTCL