2012 UALC
Narendra Wajapeyee, PhD
Yale University
Research Project:
Targeting p53 mutant lung cancers
Summary:
More than 50% of all lung tumors have a loss of p53 activity, a protein that suppresses tumor growth. In addition, loss of p53 in lung cancer has shown to be associated with increased resistance to chemotherapy, radiation therapy and higher metastatic rate, yet p53 remains one of the most difficult proteins to target with drugs. Dr. Wajapeyee has identified 14 genes that can induce cell death in cell lines with abnormal p53. In this project, Dr. Wajapeyee will validate these genes analyzing growth and metastasis in both patient-derived cell lines and in pre-clinical models. The goal of this project is to provide an alternative strategy to treat p53 mutant lung cancers, including drug-resistant and highly metastatic forms of p53 mutant lung cancers.