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Discovering factors that drive the migration of immune cells to malignant pleural mesothelioma tumors

Description
Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive deadly tumor that has few therapeutic options. Immunotherapies have shown great potential in alleviating MPM patient symptoms. Using patient data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) we sought to identify mutations, regulators, and immune factors driving immune cell migration. We explored computational methods…

Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive deadly tumor that has few therapeutic options. Immunotherapies have shown great potential in alleviating MPM patient symptoms. Using patient data from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) we sought to identify mutations, regulators, and immune factors driving immune cell migration. We explored computational methods to define regulatory causal flows in order to make biological predictions. These predictions were verified by cross-referencing peer-reviewed articles. A disease-relevant inference model was developed to examine the chemokine IL-18’s effect on natural killer cell (NK cell) migration.
ContributorsWipper, Gabrielle Frances (Author) / Plaisier, Christopher (Thesis director) / Plaisier, Seema (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
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Characterizing Primary Mesothelioma Cell Lines by Exome Sequencing

Description
Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma is a type of lung cancer usually discovered at an advanced stage at which point there is no cure. Six primary MPM cell lines were used to conduct in vitro research to make conclusions about specific gene mutations associated with Mesothelioma. DNA exome sequencing, a time efficient…

Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma is a type of lung cancer usually discovered at an advanced stage at which point there is no cure. Six primary MPM cell lines were used to conduct in vitro research to make conclusions about specific gene mutations associated with Mesothelioma. DNA exome sequencing, a time efficient and inexpensive technique, was used for identifying specific DNA mutations. Computational analysis of exome sequencing data was used to make conclusions about copy number variation among common MPM genes. Results show a CDKN2A gene heterozygous deletion in Meso24 cell line. This data is validated by a previous CRISPR-Cas9 outgrowth screen for Meso24 where the knocked-out gene caused increased Meso24 growth.
ContributorsKrdi, Ghena (Author) / Plaisier, Christopher (Thesis director) / Wilson, Melissa (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
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SRC Dependent EGFRvIII-STAT5 Activation Drives Resistance of Glioblastoma Cells

Description

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most lethal primary brain tumor in adults with a less than 5% chance of survival beyond 5 years. With few effective therapies beyond the standard of care, there are often treatment resistant recurrences seen in most patients. STAT5 is a protein that has shown to be…

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most lethal primary brain tumor in adults with a less than 5% chance of survival beyond 5 years. With few effective therapies beyond the standard of care, there are often treatment resistant recurrences seen in most patients. STAT5 is a protein that has shown to be upregulated in highly invasive and treatment resistant GBM. Elucidating the role of STAT5 in GBM could reveal a node of therapeutic vulnerability in primary and recurrent GBM.
ContributorsInforzato, Hannah (Author) / Plaisier, Christopher (Thesis director) / Tran, Nhan (Committee member) / Blomquist, Mylan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2022-05
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Applying Regulatory Networks to the Immune Landscape of Mesothelioma

Description

An immune regulatory network was constructed for the purpose of identifying target regulators in malignant pleural mesothelioma for therapies. An identified causal flow linked a mutation of D-dopachrome tautomerase to a heightened expression of regulator ASH1L and consequent down regulation of chemokine CCL5 and invasion of CD8+ T cells. Experimental…

An immune regulatory network was constructed for the purpose of identifying target regulators in malignant pleural mesothelioma for therapies. An identified causal flow linked a mutation of D-dopachrome tautomerase to a heightened expression of regulator ASH1L and consequent down regulation of chemokine CCL5 and invasion of CD8+ T cells. Experimental validation of this initial use case indicates mRNA expression of CCL5 within the tumor cells and subsequent protein expression and secretion. Further analyses will explore the migration of CD8+ T cells in response to the chemotactic CCL5.
ContributorsCook, Margaret (Author) / Plaisier, Christopher (Thesis director, Committee member) / Wilson, Melissa (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor)
Created2022-05