2015 Lung Cancer Research Foundation Annual Grant Program
Wen Xue, PhD
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Research Project:
Treating lung cancer by inhibiting KRAS with small RNA
Summary:
More than 30% of NSCLC patients carry mutations in the KRAS oncogene. Yet, there are no effective KRAS inhibitors in the clinic. Dr. Xue and his team aim to investigate small RNA molecules as a new targeted therapy for KRAS. First, they will develop inducible KRAS RNA interference (RNAi) in genetically-engineered mouse models of human NSCLC to characterize tumor phenotype following KRAS inhibition and uncover potential resistance mechanisms as a proof-of-concept. Second, they will apply CRISPR-mediated genome editing to model complete deletion of KRAS in mouse and human NSCLC cells. These studies will allow the team to devise a new approach in inhibiting KRAS for clinical studies and predict how lung cancer will respond to KRAS targeted therapy.
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