Alexander Pertsemlidis,
Associate Professor,
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Dr. Pertsemlidis obtained his doctoral degree from the University of California at Berkeley. He completed postdoctoral fellowships in computational biology and genetics at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He is currently at the Greehey Children's Cancer Research Institute at the UT Health Science Center in San Antonio, where he is Associate Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Cellular and Structural Biology and director of the Cancer Biology Discipline in the Integrated Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program. His laboratory investigates the roles of non-coding RNAs in cancer pathogenesis and in modulating cancer cell drug response and seeks to identify those that are diagnostic markers or therapeutic targets or agents.
Using Non-Coding RNAs to Identify Cancer Cell Vulnerabilities
Monday, 13 November 2017 at 10:00
Add to Calendar ▼2017-11-13 10:00:002017-11-13 11:00:00Europe/LondonUsing Non-Coding RNAs to Identify Cancer Cell VulnerabilitiesThe RNA Summit: Research, Diagnostics and Therapeutics in Boston, USABoston, USASELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
We study noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) and when, how, and why they regulate cancer cell viability and drug response. Candidate ncRNAs are identified through high-throughput screening and expression profiling. Regulatory interactions are predicted in silico and validated using qRT-PCR, protein quantification, and luciferase reporter assays. Cancer cell response to perturbations is assessed through flow cytometric analysis of cell cycle phase distribution, colony formation and caspase activation assays, and validated in mouse xenograft models. We have identified ncRNAs that selectively kill cancer cells or lead to their terminal differentiation and ncRNAs that selectively enhance cancer cell response to microtubule-targeting agents, revealing new vulnerabilities of cancer cells mediated by complex regulatory relationships between several classes of coding and non-coding RNAs. These ncRNAs have intrinsic value as biomarkers and therapeutic agents and the vulnerabilities that they uncover can be targeted with pathway-specific perturbations, both improving our understanding of cancer pathogenesis and drug response and adding broadly to our therapeutic armamentarium.
Add to Calendar ▼2017-11-13 00:00:002017-11-14 00:00:00Europe/LondonThe RNA Summit: Research, Diagnostics and TherapeuticsThe RNA Summit: Research, Diagnostics and Therapeutics in Boston, USABoston, USASELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
Add to Calendar ▼2017-11-13 10:00:002017-11-13 11:00:00Europe/LondonUsing Non-Coding RNAs to Identify Cancer Cell VulnerabilitiesThe RNA Summit: Research, Diagnostics and Therapeutics in Boston, USABoston, USASELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
