# Mike Fried
Mike Fried is a molecular biologist and cancer researcher known for his work on polyomavirus middle T antigen and on the ARF–p53 tumor suppressor pathway. He trained at Caltech under [Renato Dulbecco](https://www.edgepedia.org/renato-dulbecco),[1](https://thesis.caltech.edu/9182/) and, according to a biographical account of Fried, led research at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) in London.[2](https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/42445623)
| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| Field | Molecular biology of DNA tumor viruses; cancer signaling[1](https://thesis.caltech.edu/9182/) |
| Training | PhD, Caltech, 1966, advisor Renato Dulbecco; thesis on temperature-sensitive mutants of polyoma virus[1](https://thesis.caltech.edu/9182/) |
| Signature work | "Protein kinase activity associated with polyoma virus middle T antigen in vitro", *Cell*, 1979 ([doi:10.1016/0092-8674(79)90204-6](https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(79)90204-6))[4](https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(79)90204-6) |
| ICRF, London | Joined 1972; led the Eukaryotic Gene Expression and Organization laboratory until January 1999[2](https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/42445623) • [3](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-fried-5477766) |
| Ludwig Institute | Branch at University College London, established in 1986 by Michael Waterfield, its director[2](https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/42445623) • [10](https://www.ludwigcancerresearch.org/ludwig-link/november-2023/michael-waterfield-1941-2023/) |
| UCSF | Professor since January 1999[3](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-fried-5477766) |
| Major grant | NIH/NCI R01 CA101967, "Arf Activation by Polyoma Virus T-Antigen", 2003–2008[5](https://grantome.com/index.php/grant/NIH/R01-CA101967-02) |
## Early life and training
Fried's doctoral work was carried out at the [California Institute of Technology](https://www.edgepedia.org/california-institute-of-technology), where his dissertation, *Studies of Temperature Sensitive Mutants of Polyoma Virus*, was completed in 1966 with Renato Dulbecco as advisor.[1](https://thesis.caltech.edu/9182/) The dissertation's subject, temperature-sensitive mutants of polyoma virus, matches his later polyomavirus research career.[1](https://thesis.caltech.edu/9182/)
## Career
In 1972 Fried was recruited back to the United Kingdom to join the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, whose laboratories were in [Lincoln's Inn Fields](https://www.edgepedia.org/lincolns-inn-fields) in central London.[2](https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/42445623) • [6](https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbm/article/doi/10.1098/rsbm.2026.0004/483148/Michael-Derek-Waterfield14-May-1941-11-May-2023) A 1977 letter from Fried at the ICRF Laboratories, held in the papers at UCSF Archives and Special Collections, confirms his presence there by that date.[7](https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/ResourceMetadata/MVBBDC)
In January 1999 he moved to the [University of California, San Francisco](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-california-san-francisco) as a professor; the NIH grant record places him in UCSF's Department of Internal Medicine/Medicine, School of Medicine.[3](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-fried-5477766) • [5](https://grantome.com/index.php/grant/NIH/R01-CA101967-02)
## Representative work
Fried's 1979 paper in *Cell*, "Protein kinase activity associated with polyoma virus middle T antigen in vitro", published 1 December 1979, demonstrated that the virus's middle T antigen is associated with protein kinase activity in vitro.[4](https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(79)90204-6) A *Nature Reviews Cancer* review cites it among the influential discoveries of the middle T antigen field, work that revealed the roles of tyrosine kinases and other signaling proteins in cell transformation.[8](https://www.nature.com/articles/nrc946) • [9](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2676342/)
## Research contributions
**Middle T antigen.** Middle T antigen is the principal oncogene of murine polyomavirus, and its study has led to the discovery of the roles of tyrosine kinase and other signaling proteins in transformation.[9](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2676342/) Fried was among the senior researchers associated with these discoveries, which include the 1979 kinase finding and work on how the virus uses cellular signals in transformed cells.[8](https://www.nature.com/articles/nrc946)
**The ARF–p53 pathway.** Polyoma virus middle T antigen (PyMT) is a potent oncogene that binds key cellular regulatory proteins and activates signaling pathways including the ARF–p53 tumor suppressor pathway, which blocks cell division in cells carrying an intact pathway.[5](https://grantome.com/index.php/grant/NIH/R01-CA101967-02) Fried's group published a 2001 paper in *Oncogene*, "Polyoma virus disrupts ARF signaling to p53"; according to his NIH grant report *Arf Activation by Polyoma Virus T-Antigen* (R01 CA101967), his group's *PNAS* papers in 2004 and 2006 showed a role for PP2A in ARF signaling to p53 and that polyoma and SV40 proteins differentially regulate PP2A to activate distinct signaling pathways involved in growth control.[5](https://grantome.com/index.php/grant/NIH/R01-CA101967-02) • [8](https://www.nature.com/articles/nrc946) His group also reported in *Oncogene* in 2006 that chromosomal instability at a mutational hotspot in polyoma middle T antigen affects its ability to activate the ARF–p53 pathway.[5](https://grantome.com/index.php/grant/NIH/R01-CA101967-02)
## Funding
At UCSF, Fried held [National Cancer Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-cancer-institute) grant R01 CA101967, "Arf Activation by Polyoma Virus T-Antigen" (project 5R01CA101967-02), running from 25 July 2003 to 30 June 2008 and reviewed by the Virology Study Section.[5](https://grantome.com/index.php/grant/NIH/R01-CA101967-02) Annual total costs were about $270,000 in fiscal years 2003–2005, about $263,000 in 2006, and about $256,000 in 2007.[5](https://grantome.com/index.php/grant/NIH/R01-CA101967-02)
## Recent developments
A 2026 Royal Society biographical memoir records that Fried worked at the ICRF on the polyoma DNA tumor virus and that a head-hunting initiative of his brought a colleague back to the UK in 1972 to join the ICRF in London, where the two worked together on the virus.[6](https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbm/article/doi/10.1098/rsbm.2026.0004/483148/Michael-Derek-Waterfield14-May-1941-11-May-2023)
## References
1. [Studies of Temperature Sensitive Mutants of Polyoma Virus, CaltechTHESIS](https://thesis.caltech.edu/9182/)
2. [Biographical account of Mike Fried](https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/42445623)
3. [Mike Fried, LinkedIn profile](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-fried-5477766)
4. https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(79)90204-6
5. [Arf Activation by Polyoma Virus T-Antigen, NIH R01 CA101967](https://grantome.com/index.php/grant/NIH/R01-CA101967-02)
6. [Michael Derek Waterfield, Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society (2026)](https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbm/article/doi/10.1098/rsbm.2026.0004/483148/Michael-Derek-Waterfield14-May-1941-11-May-2023)
7. [Letter from Mike Fried, ICRF Laboratories, to Harold Varmus (1977), NLM Profiles](https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/ResourceMetadata/MVBBDC)
8. [Polyoma virus middle T antigen and its role in identifying cancer-related molecules, Nature Reviews Cancer](https://www.nature.com/articles/nrc946)
9. [Lessons from Polyoma Middle T Antigen on Signaling and Transformation, Virology, 2009](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2676342/)
10. [ludwigcancerresearch.org](https://www.ludwigcancerresearch.org/ludwig-link/november-2023/michael-waterfield-1941-2023/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Life and health › Life and health scientists › Life scientists › Researchers in cancer biology › Carcinogenesis and cancer virology*
*Initially written Sep 21, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 25, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Sep 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license