Project description:Thirteen HER2 positive breast cancer cell lines were screened with 22 commercially available compounds, mainly targeting proteins in the ErbB2 signaling pathway, and the molecular mechanisms related to treatment response were sought. To search for response predictors, genomic and transcriptomic profiling, PIK3CA mutations and PTEN status were associated to the drug responses and several genes involved in the response of the compounds were identified.
Project description:Thirteen HER2 positive breast cancer cell lines were screened with 22 commercially available compounds, mainly targeting proteins in the ErbB2 signaling pathway, and the molecular mechanisms related to treatment response were sought. To search for response predictors, genomic and transcriptomic profiling, PIK3CA mutations and PTEN status were associated to the drug responses and several genes involved in the response of the compounds were identified. Array-CGH experiments of HER2+ breast cancer cell lines grown under standard conditions.
Project description:Thirteen HER2 positive breast cancer cell lines were screened with 22 commercially available compounds, mainly targeting proteins in the ErbB2 signaling pathway, and the molecular mechanisms related to treatment response were sought. To search for response predictors, genomic and transcriptomic profiling, PIK3CA mutations and PTEN status were associated to the drug responses and several genes involved in the response of the compounds were identified. RNA from thirteen HER2 positive breast cancer cell lines was isolated and hybridized on Affymetrix arrays.
Project description:Thirteen HER2 positive breast cancer cell lines were screened with 22 commercially available compounds, mainly targeting proteins in the ErbB2 signaling pathway, and the molecular mechanisms related to treatment response were sought. To search for response predictors, genomic and transcriptomic profiling, PIK3CA mutations and PTEN status were associated to the drug responses and several genes involved in the response of the compounds were identified. Array-CGH experiments of HER2+ breast cancer cell lines grown under standard conditions. DNA from four HER2 positive breast cancer cell lines was isolated and hybridized on Agilent arrays.
Project description:Anti-cancer drug development campaigns often fail due to an incomplete understanding of the therapeutic index differentiating the efficacy of the agent against the cancer and its on-target toxicities to the host. To address this issue, we established a versatile preclinical platform in which genetically defined cancers are produced using somatic tissue engineering in transgenic mice harboring a Doxycycline-inducible short hairpin RNA against the target of interest. In this system, target inhibition is achieved by addition of doxycycline, enabling simultaneous assessment of efficacy and toxicity in the same animal. As proof-of-concept, we focused on CDK9 — a cancer target whose clinical development has been hampered by compounds with poorly understood target specificity and unacceptable toxicities. We systematically compared phenotypes produced by genetic Cdk9 inhibition to those achieved using a recently developed highly specific small molecule CDK9 inhibitor and found that both perturbations led to robust anti-tumor responses. Remarkably, non-toxic levels of CDK9 inhibition could achieve significant treatment efficacy, and dose-dependent toxicities produced by prolonged CDK9 suppression were largely reversible upon Cdk9 restoration or drug withdrawal. Overall, these results validate a versatile in vivo target validation platform that can be employed for rapid triaging of therapeutic targets and lend support to efforts aimed at advancing CDK9 inhibitors for cancer therapy.
Project description:<p>When undergoing treatment for breast cancer, many women experience severe side effects, some of which result in treatment-related death and some that can persist for years. Little is understood regarding factors that may predict drug toxicities. Pharmacogenetics, the investigation of variants in candidate genes in drug metabolism pathways, has been used to determine susceptibility to treatment-related toxicities, as well as to cancer recurrence. Although there have been some strong and important findings using this approach, such as identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that predispose to side effects associated with thiopurines and irinotecan, there has been less progress in assessment of genetic variants that predispose to toxicities resulting from the multi-drug regimen commonly used to treat breast cancer, anthracyclines (A), cyclophosphamide (C), and taxanes (T). These difficulties in identification of key gene variants may be due to the complex metabolic pathways of these drugs, the lack of rate limiting enzymes in the processes, or the limitations of single SNP analysis, rather than capturing all of the variability across the genes.</p> <p>In addition to drug metabolism pathways, however, there may be a number of constitutional factors or other processes that affect damage to normal tissues in the course of chemotherapy, some known or hypothesized, such as DNA repair and oxidative stress pathways, and others not yet discovered. However, there have been no clear candidate genes that account for a large part of the variation in drug or treatment response, and there are likely important genes that influence sensitivity of cells to chemotherapy through unknown pathways which have not yet been identified or hypothesized. The present technological capabilities to screen the entire genome for variants that discriminate populations allows the opportunity to identify these as yet unknown pathways, and open the doors to exciting new avenues of research into mechanisms that had not been previously considered.</p> <p>We conducted a genome-wide scan (GWAS) in a clinical trial (S0221), in which women with high risk breast cancer were treated with different dosing schedules of C, A and T. Blood specimens were collected and banked, and DNA extracted for genotyping on the Illumina OMNI 1M platform. The GWAS data were used to examine genetic variants significantly associated with grades 3 and 4 toxicities, including peripheral neuropathy recorded during the T segment. In S0221, toxicities were graded according to the NCI Common Toxicity Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE). The neurotoxicity is predominantly a distal sensory neuropathy, which is characterized by pain, numbness, tingling, and reduced functional capacity in the extremities. Other symptoms include parasthesias, ataxia, impaired vibration and joint position sense, and loss of tendon reflexes. By using a GWAS approach, it is likely that important pathways not previously considered can be revealed as important in susceptibility to treatment-related toxicities, identifying those at greatest risk for alternate drugs or dose reduction, and opening new areas of research for prevention of taxanes-related neuropathy among patients receiving chemotherapy for breast cancer. </p>