Alicja Urbaniak, Ph.D. | UAMS Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Instructor

B.Sc. (Chemistry) – Adam Mickiewicz University
M.Sc. (Chemistry) – Adam Mickiewicz University
Ph.D. (Chemistry) – Adam Mickiewicz University
Postdoctoral training – University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Email: AUrbaniak@uams.edu
Office: 501-686-5954 – Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Rm. 9139
Lab: Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Rm. 9158
Fax: 501-686-8169

Research Interests

My research interests lie at the interphase of chemistry and cancer biology. I intend to tackle the most pressing issues in cancer biology – how to target and therapeutically intervene to disrupt cancer stem cell functionality (self-renewal, drug resistance, tumor recurrence after therapy, and metastatic spread to distant organs). I am especially interested in breast cancer biology and discovery of novel small molecules with anti-breast cancer properties. I am particularly focused on the anti-cancer stem cell activity of polyether ionophore antibiotics and their derivatives. In the labs of Dr. Angus MacNicol and Dr. Tim Chambers, I am developing 3D tumor organoid models to better mimic tumor architecture and to facilitate rapid screening of small molecule drug candidates selectively active against cancer stem cells.

Selected Publications

Urbaniak, F. Jousheghany, S. Piña-Oviedo, Y. Yuan, U. Majcher-Uchańska, G. Klejborowska, A. Moorjani, A. Huczyński, B. Monzavi-Karbassi, T. C. Chambers, Carbamate derivatives of colchicine show potent activity towards primary acute lymphoblastic leukemia and primary breast cancer cells – in vitro and ex vivo study, J Biochem Mol Toxicol , e22487 (2020)

Klejborowska, A. Urbaniak, E. Maj, J. Wietrzyk, M. Moshari, J. Preto, J. Tuszynski, T. C. Chambers, A. Huczyński, Synthesis, biological evaluation and molecular docking studies of new amides of 4-chlorothiocolchicine as anticancer agents, Bioorg. Chem. 97, 103664 (2020)

Urbaniak (co-first authorship), D. Czerwonka, S. Sobczak, S. Piña-Oviedo, T. C. Chambers, M. Antoszczak, A. Huczyński, Synthesis and anticancer activity of tertiary amides of salinomycin and their C20-oxo analogs, Chem MedChem 15, 236-246 (2020)

Klejborowska, A. Urbaniak, J. Preto, E. Maj, M. Moshari, J. Wietrzyk, J. Tuszynski, T. C. Chambers, A. Huczyński, Synthesis, biological evaluation and molecular docking studies of new amides of 4-bromothiocolchicine as anticancer agents, Bioorg. Med. Chem. 27, 115144 (2019)

Urbaniak, F. Jousheghany, Y. Yuan, S. Piña-Oviedo, A. Huczyński, M. Delgado, T. Kieber-Emmons, B. Monzavi-Karbassi, T. C. Chambers, The response of phyllodes tumor of the breast to anticancer therapy – in vitro and ex vivo study, Oncol. Lett. 1-10 (2019)

Urbaniak, A. Skarpańska-Stejnborn, Effect of pomegranate fruit supplementation on performance and various markers in athletes and active subjects: a systematic review, Int. J. Vitam. Nutr. Res. 1-15 (2019)

Delgado, A. Urbaniak, T. C. Chambers, Contrasting effects of microtubule destabilizers versus stabilizers on induction of death in G1 phase of the cell cycle, Biochem. Pharmacol. 162, 213-223 (2019)

Majcher, A. Urbaniak, E. Maj, M. Moshari, M. Delgado, J. Wietrzyk, F. Bartl, T. C. Chambers, J. A. Tuszynski, A. Huczyński, Synthesis, antiproliferative activity and molecular docking of thiocolchicine urethanes, Bioorg. Chem. 81, 553-566 (2018)

Urbaniak, P. Basta, K. Ast, A. Wołoszyn, J. Kuriańska-Wołoszyn, E. Latour, A. Skarpańska-Stejnborn, The impact of supplementation with pomegranate fruit (Punica granatum L.) juice on selected antioxidant parameters and markers of iron metabolism in rowers, J. Int. Soc. Sport. N utr. 15:35 (2018)

Urbaniak (co-first authorship), M. Antoszczak, M. Delgado, E. Maj, B. Borgström, J. Wietrzyk, A. Huczyński, Y. Yuan, T. C. Chambers, D. Strand, Biological activity of doubly modified salinomycin analogs – evaluation in vitro and ex vivo, Eur. J. Med . Chem . 156, 510-523 (2018)

Urbaniak, M. Delgado, M. Antoszczak, A. Huczyński, T. C. Chambers, Salinomycin derivatives exhibit activity against primary acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cells in vitro, Biomed. Pharmacother. 99, 384-390 (2018)

Urbaniak, J. Kujawski, K. Czaja, M. Szeląg, Antioxidant properties of several caffeic acid derivatives: A theoretical study, CR Chim. 20, 1072-1082 (2017)

Urbaniak, M. Delgado, K. Kacprzak, T. C. Chambers, Activity of resveratrol triesters against primary acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells, Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett . 27, 2766-2770 (2017)

Urbaniak, B. Warżajtis, U. Rychlewska, K. Kacprzak, Microwave-assisted synthesis of aromatic and aliphatic triesters of resveratrol, Synthesis 48, 1002-1010 (2016)

Szeląg, A. Urbaniak, H. A. R. Bluijssen, A theoretical antioxidant pharmacophore for natural hydroxycinnamic acids, Open Chem. 13, 17-31 (2015)

Urbaniak, M. Szeląg, M. Molski, Theoetical investigation of stereochemistry and solvent influence on antioxidant activity of ferulic acid, Comput. Theor. Chem. 1012, 33-40 (2013)

Urbaniak, M. Molski, M. Szeląg, Quantum-chemical calculations of the antioxidant properties of trans-p-coumaric acid and trans-sinapinic acid, Computational Methods in Science and Technology (CMST) 18(2), 117-128 (2012)

Complete List of Published Work in ORCID.