Project description:Bromodomain and extraterminal domain (BET) proteins have emerged as therapeutic targets in multiple cancers, including the most common primary adult brain tumor glioblastoma (GBM). Although several bet inhibitors have entered clinical trials, few are brain penetrant. We have generated UM-002, a novel brain penetrant BET inhibitor that reduces GBM cell proliferation in vitro and in a human cerebral brain organoid model. Since UM-002 is more potent than other BET inhibitors, it could potentially be developed for GBM treatment. Furthermore, UM-002 treatment reduces the expression of cell-cycle related genes in vivo, and reduces the expression of invasion related genes within the non-proliferative cells present in tumors as measured by single cell RNAsequencing. These studies suggest that BET inhibition alters the transcriptional landscape of GBM tumors, which has implications for designing combination therapies. Importantly, they also provide an integrated dataset that combines in vitro and ex vivo studies with in vivo single-cell RNA-sequencing to characterize a novel BET inhibitor in GBM.
Project description:BP and ER encode proteins that act synergistically to regulate Arabidopsis inflorescence architecture. To search for genes/proteins that influence the BP/ER signaling pathways, we conducted mutagenesis of the bp er double mutant and found that a mutation in FILAMENTOUS FLOWER (FIL) suppresses many of the morphological/developmental defects in bp er. Given that FIL encodes a Zn-finger containing transcription factor, microarray analysis was conducted on bp er vs. the bp er fil line to identify genes that are misregulated and which might implicate specific genes/proteins/pathways that are involved in regulating inflorescence development.