Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Assistant Professor

Email Dr. Mitchell
Phone Number: 502-852-7698

Louisville, KY 40292 (40202 xpr

Ph.D. Dept. of Medicine

Area of Interest:

The primary focus of Dr. Mitchell’s current research centers on the pro-inflammatory cytokine, migration inhibitory factor (MIF), as it relates to non-immune cell cycle regulation, oncogenic transformation and in vivo tumorigenesis. Biochemical, molecular and cell biology studies designed to identify cell surface, cytosolic and nuclear signaling effectors of MIF action constitute about a third of his lab efforts. Another significant portion of the laboratory’s time is devoted to translational studies that seek to determine the precise contribution of MIF to de novo lung, breast and colon cancer using transgenic “onco-mice” backcrossed against MIF-/- mice. Also, in collaboration with Dr. John Trent of the JG Brown Cancer Center, molecular modeling of the catalytic active site of MIF is currently being used to “virtual screen” millions of candidate small molecule inhibitors of MIF in the hopes of identifying novel anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer chemotherapies. Finally, in collaboration with the laboratory of Dr. John Eaton, we are developing a highly novel vaccination approach to prevent cancer in high risk populations using the well established notion that tumors and embryonic stem cells express many common antigens.

H. Liao, R. Bucala and R.A. Mitchell. (2003) Adhesion-dependent signaling by macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF).  J. Biol. Chem. 8:3755-60. 

D. Lacey, A. Sampey, R.A. Mitchell, L. Santos, M. Leech and E. Morand. (2003) Control of fibroblast-like synoviocyte proliferation by macrophage migration inhibitory factor.  Arthritis Rheum. 48(1):103-9. 

O. Petrenko, G. Fingerle-Rowson, T. Peng, R.A. Mitchell and C.N. Metz. (2003) MIF-deficiency is associated with altered cell growth and reduced susceptibility to Ras mediated transformation. J. Biol. Chem. 278(13):11078-11085.

B. Rendon-Mitchell, M. Ochani, J. Li, J. Han, H. Wang, S. Susarla, C. Czura, R.A. Mitchell, A. Sama, K. Tracey and H. Wang. (2003) IFNginduces HMGB1 release partially through a TNF-dependent mechanism.  J. Immunol. 170(7):3890-3897. 

L. Leng, C. Metz, Y. Fang, J. Xu, S. Donnelly, J. Baugh, T. Delohery, Y. Chen, R.A. Mitchell and R. Bucala. (2003) MIF signal transduction initiated by binding to CD74. J. Exp. Med. 197(11):1467-1476. 

G. Fingerle-Rowson, O. Petrenko, C.N. Metz, T.G Forsthuber, R.A. Mitchell, R. Huss, U. Moll, W. Muller, and R. Bucala. (2003) The p53-dependent effects of macrophage migration inhibitory factor revealed by gene targeting.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 100(16):9354-9359.  

R.A. Mitchell. (2003) Mechanisms and effectors of MIF-dependent promotion of tumorigenesis.  Cell. Signal. 16(1):13-19