Dr. Ellen Ackerstaff

Research Associate

Education

Professional Experience

Professional Honors and Awards

Membership in Professional Societies

Educational Activities

Publications

Oral Presentations

Presentations at Conferences

Keywords

Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer
Invasion
Physiological Environment (i.e. Hypoxia)
Interaction of Prostate Cancer Cells with Endothelial Cells
Indomethacin
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Fluorescence Microscopy

 

Research Area

Characterization of Malignant Transformation in Human Prostate Cancer Cells
The metabolic profile of normal and malignant human prostate cells was characterized by 1H NMR spectroscopy of PCA (perchloric acid) extracts. The data revealed an increase of total choline, phosphocholine and lactate with malignant progression thus making the total choline a promising diagnostic marker.

Functional imaging of the invasive phenotype of prostate and breast cancer cells with the 'Metabolic Boyden Chamber'
The 'Metabolic Boyden Chamber' Assay is being used to investigate the role of the physiological environment and the 'stressed' physiological conditions found in solid tumors in promoting invasion and metastasis. This assay is also being used to determine the role of the physiological environment, in terms of lactate concentration, pH and oxygen tension, in invasion. MRI microscopy methods are used to quantify invasion of cells into Matrigel, and multinuclear MRS is being used to study the physiology, energy and lipid metabolism of cells during invasion. To mimic further the interaction of endothelial and cancer cells in vivo, a layer of human umbilical vein endothelial cells is inserted between the Matrigel and the cancer cells.

Education:

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Professional Experience:

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Professional Honors and Awards:

• 2001 Educational Stipends for Students and Postdoctoral Trainees, ISMRM, Travel Award

• 2000 Educational Stipends for Students and Postdoctoral Trainees, ISMRM, Travel Award

• 1998 Stipend for young scientists, FNK University of Bremen, Germany Travel Award

• 1996 Stipend for young scientists, ICMRBS, Travel Award

• 1996 Stipend for young scientists, FNK University of Bremen, Germany, Travel Award

• January 1, 1995 until December 31, 1995 Research Scholarship, FNK (Zentrale Kommissionen fuer Forschungsfoerderung und wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchs), University of Bremen, Germany, Funding of research conducted in the Ph.D. program
  

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Membership in Professional Societies:

• The International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, USA; (since January 2000)
  Study Group(s): MR of Cancer

• The Society for Molecular Imaging, USA; (since March 2001)

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Educational Activities:

• Teaching Assistant at the Fachbereich Physik/Elektrotechnik, University of Bremen, Germany:
  

  Supervision in Laboratory:
  SS 1996, SS 1997	Course physics II
  WS 1996/97, WS 1997/98	Course physics I
  SS 1997, SS 1998	Biophysical laboratory (Laboratory for advanced students) (Responsible for setting up the lecture in NMR spectroscopy and supervising the students)
  Assistant in Oral Examinations of physics students

  
  
• Student Assistant in the computer pool of the Klinik und Poliklinik fuer Allgemeine Orthopaedie der Universitaetskliniken in Muenster, Germany:
  Instructing the physicians, medical students and employees of the Universitaetsklinikum Muenster in the use of the operating system DOS, the program package Windows3.1 and applications, MS-Word5.0/5.1, HavardGraphics, Statgraphics, DBase and Medline; maintenance of software and hardware
  

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Publications:

• Peer-reviewed Scientific Articles

  1. Glunde, K., Ackerstaff, E., Natarajan, K., Artemov, D., and Bhujwalla, Z.M. Real-time Changes in 1H and 31P NMR Spectra of Malignant Human Mammary Epithelial Cells During Treatment with the Anti-Inflammatory Agent Indomethacin. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 48(5):819-825, 2002.
  2. Bhujwalla, Z.M., Artemov, D., Natarajan, K., Ackerstaff, E., and Solaiyappan, M. Vascular Differences Detected by MRI for Metastatic versus Nonmetastatic Breast and Prostate Cancer Xenografts. Neoplasia, 3(2):143-153, 2001. (Front cover)
  3. Pilatus, U., Aboagye, E., Artemov, D., Mori, N., Ackerstaff E., and Bhujwalla, Z M. Real-Time measurements of cellular oxygen consumption, pH and energy metabolism using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 45(5):749-755, 2001.
  4. Ackerstaff, E., Pflug, B.R., Nelson, J.B., and Bhujwalla, Z.M. Detection of Increased Choline Compounds with 1H NMR Spectroscopy following Malignant Transformation of Human Prostatic Epithelial Cells. Cancer Research, 61(9):3599-3603, 2001.
  5. Pilatus, U., Ackerstaff, E., Artemov, D., Mori, N., Gillies, R.J., and Bhujwalla, Z.M. Imaging prostate cancer invasion with multi-nuclear magnetic resonance methods: The Metabolic Boyden Chamber. Neoplasia, 2(3):273-279, 2000.

• Papers presented at Symposia and Published in Journals or Books

1. Ackerstaff, E., Artemov, D., and Bhujwalla, Z.M. Endothelial VEGF Overexpressing Human Prostate Cancer Cells Exhibit Increased Invasion. 2nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Molecular Imaging, San Francisco, CA, USA, August 15-18, 2003; published in: Molecular Imaging, 2(3):273, 2003.
2. Ackerstaff, E., Artemov, D., Gillies, R.J., and Bhujwalla, Z.M. Endothelial Cells Promote Invasion of the Human Prostate Cancer Cell Line PC-3 under Hypoxia. 1st Annual Meeting of the Society for Molecular Imaging, Boston, MA, USA, August 24 - 26, 2002; published in: Molecular Imaging, 1(3):204, 2002
3. Bhujwalla, Z.M., Artemov, D., Aboagye, E., Ackerstaff, E., Gillies, R.J., Natarajan, K. and Solaiyappan, M. The Physiological Environment in Cancer Vascularization, Invasion and Metastasis. Novartis Foundation Symposium 240: Causes and consequences of acidic pH in tumors, London, October 2001, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN: 0471499595.
4. Fichtner, A., Luebberstedt, H., Ackerstaff, E., Mayer, A. Diffusion weighted 1H nmr studies of the microalgae Chlorella fusca. XIIth International Biophysics Congress August 11 - 16, 1996, Amsterdam, NL; published in: Progress in Biophysics & Molecular Biology 65: PH409-PH409, Suppl. 1 1996.

• Book / Book Chapter

• Ackerstaff, E. In vivo 13C, 15N, 31P and diffusion weighted 1H NMR Spectroscopy - Investigations of Metabolism and Water Diffusion in the Photoautotrophic Microalga Chlorella fusca. (Original title: In vivo 13C-, 15N-, 31P- und diffusionsgewichtete 1H-Kernspinresonanz-Spektroskopie-Untersuchungen zum Stoffwechsel und zur Wasserdiffusion in der photoautotrophen Mikroalge Chlorella fusca; Language: German) Ph.D. Thesis, University of Bremen, 1998, 159 pages; Logos Verlag, Berlin, Germany, ISBN: 3-89722-116-0.

• Invited Review(s)

  1. Pathak, A.P., Gimi, B., Glunde, K., Ackerstaff, E., Artemov, D., and Bhujwalla, Z.M. Molecular And Functional Imaging Of Cancer: Advances in MRI and MRS Methods in Enzymology: Imaging (in press), v. 385, 2003.
  2. Ackerstaff, E., Glunde, K., Bhujwalla, Z.M. Choline Phospholipid Metabolism: A Target in Cancer Cells?
     Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, 90(3):525-533, 2003.
  3. Bhujwalla, Z.M., Artemov, D., Ackerstaff, E., Solaiyappan, M. MRI and MRS Studies of Cancer in Recent Advances in MR Imaging and Spectroscopy in Experimental and Clinical Research, Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) Ltd., New Delhi, India, in press

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Invited Oral Presentations:

• Breast Cancer Research Program Seminars, The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA, March19, 2002
  Title of Talk: ‘Imaging Cancer Cell Invasion’
• Division of MR Research Seminar Series, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA, February 14, 2002
  Title of Talk: ‘Imaging Cancer Invasion’
• Breast Cancer Research Program Seminars, Department of Oncology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA, December 12, 2000
  Title of Talk: ‘The Metabolic Boyden Chamber: The Role of the Physiological Environment in Breast and Prostate Cancer Cell Invasion’
• Breast Cancer Research Program Seminars, Department of Oncology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA, June 6, 2000
  Title of Talk: ‘Increased Concentrations of Choline Compounds Characterize Malignant Transformation of Human Prostate Epithelial Cells - A 1H NMR Spectroscopy Study on Cell Extracts’
• Breast Cancer Research Program Seminars, Department of Oncology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA, September 21, 1999
  Title of Talk: ‘Understanding the Role of the Physiological Environment in Cancer Invasion and Metastasis with MR Imaging and Spectroscopy’

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Presentations at Meetings Published in Conference Proceedings:

Peer Reviewed Abstracts which have been presented as talks or posters at national and international meetings held by the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Society for Molecular Imaging, Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Biophysik, and other.

 

1. Ackerstaff, E., Artemov, D., Gillies, R.J., and Bhujwalla, Z.M. Invading Prostate Cancer Cells Exhibit Metabolic Differnces in the Presence of Endothelial Cells. 11th Scientific Meeting & Exhibition of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Toronto, ON, Canada, July 10-16, 2003.
2. Ackerstaff, E., Artemov, D., Bhujwalla, Z.M. Reduced Invasion of Human Breast Cancer Cells after Ainti-inflammatory Treatment. 11th Scientific Meeting & Exhibition of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Toronto, ON, Canada, July 10-16, 2003.
3. Ackerstaff, E., Artemov, D., Gillies, R.J., and Bhujwalla, Z.M. Endothelial Cells Promote Invasion of the Human Prostate Cancer Cell Line PC-3 under Hypoxia. ISMRM Workshop on In Vivo Functional and Molecular Assessment of Cancer, Chaminade at Santa Cruz, CA, USA, October 19-21, 2002.
4. Ackerstaff, E., Artemov, D., Bhujwalla, Z.M. Metabolic Boyden Chamber Detects Reduced Invasion of the Human Breast Cancer Cell Line MDA-MB-435 after Indomethacin Treatment. ISMRM Workshop on In Vivo Functional and Molecular Assessment of Cancer, Chaminade at Santa Cruz, CA, USA, October 19-21, 2002.
5. Ackerstaff, E., Artemov, D., Gillies, R.J., Bhujwalla, Z.M. Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells Promote Invasion of PC-3 under Hypoxia. 10th Scientific Meeting & Exhibition of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Honululu, Hawai'i, USA, May 18-24, 2002.
6. Ackerstaff, E., Artemov, D., Bhujwalla, Z.M. Indomethacin Reduces the Invasion of the Human Breast Cancer Cell Line MDA-MB-435. 10th Scientific Meeting & Exhibition of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Honululu, Hawai'i, USA, May 18-24, 2002.
7. Glunde, K., Ackerstaff, E., Natarajan, K., Artemov, D., Bhujwalla, Z.M. Indomethacin Alters Phospholipid Metabolism in a pH-Independent Manner in Living Breast Cancer Cells. 10th Scientific Meeting & Exhibition of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Honululu, Hawai'i, USA, May 18-24, 2002.
8. Ackerstaff, E., Pflug, B.R., Nelson, J.B. and Bhujwalla, Z.M. Increased Lactate characterizes Malignant Transformation in Human Prostate Cancer Cells. 9th Scientific Meeting and Exhibition of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, ISMRM-ESMRB Joint Annual Meeting, Glasgow, April 21 - 27, 2001.
9. Ackerstaff, E., Artemov, D., Gillies, R.J. and Bhujwalla, Z.M. Endothelial Cells promote Cancer Cell Invasion under Hypoxia. 9th Scientific Meeting and Exhibition of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, ISMRM-ESMRB Joint Annual Meeting, Glasgow, April 21 - 27, 2001.
10. Glunde, K., Ackerstaff, E., Natarajan, K., Artemov, D. and Bhujwalla, Z.M. Impact of Indomethacin on Phospholipid Metabolism in Malignant Human Mammary Epithelial Cells: 1H and 31P NMR Spectroscopic Study of Viable Cells. 9th Scientific Meeting and Exhibition of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, ISMRM-ESMRB Joint Annual Meeting, Glasgow, April 21 - 27, 2001.
11. Ackerstaff, E., Artemov, D., Gillies, R.J. and Bhujwalla, Z.M. Evaluation of Breast Cancer Cell Invasion with the ‘Metabolic Boyden Chamber. 9th Scientific Meeting and Exhibition of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, ISMRM-ESMRB Joint Annual Meeting, Glasgow, April 21 - 27, 2001.
12. Ackerstaff, E., Pilatus, U., Artemov, D., Mori, N., Gillies, R.J. and Bhujwalla, Z.M. Multinuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy of Prostate Cancer Cell Invasion. 8th Scientific Meeting and Exhibition of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Denver, Colorado, April 1 - 7, 2000.
13. Ackerstaff, E., Pflug, B. R., Nelson, J. B., Bhujwalla, Z.M. Alterations in Choline Compounds - A marker for the Malignant Phenotype in Human Prostate Cancer Cells. 8th Scientific Meeting and Exhibition of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Denver, Colorado, April 1 - 7, 2000.
14. Pilatus, U., Ackerstaff, E., Artemov, D., Mori, N., Gillies, R.J., Bhujwalla, Z.M. Metabolic Boyden chamber detects significant differences in invasion for metastatic and nonmetastatic prostate cancer cells. 7th Scientific Meeting and Exhibition of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Philadelphia, May 22 - 28, 1999.
15. Ackerstaff, E., Pfeuffer, J., Leibfritz, D., and Mayer, A. 1H Diffusion Weighted in vivo NMR Spectroscopy on the Microalga Chlorella fusca. 14th European Experimental NMR Conference (EENC98), Bled, Slovenia, May 10 - 15, 1998
16. Ackerstaff, E., Luebberstedt, H., Grimme, L.H., and Mayer, A. In vivo15N und 13C Kernspinresonanz-Spektroskopie an immobilisierten Chlorella-Zellen. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft fuer Biophysik, Leipzig, FRG, September 18 - 21, 1996
17. Ackerstaff, E., Luebberstedt, H., Grimme, L.H., and Mayer, A. In vivo 13C and 15N NMR Studies of Immobilized Chlorella Cells. XVIIth International Conference on Magnetic Resonance in Biological Systems (ICMRBS 1996), Keystone, Colorado, USA, August 18 - 23, 1996

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last updated on 11/11/2003
send comments to eacker@mri.jhu.edu