Mining cancer genomes to discover new targeted therapies

Cancer arises from cells with accumulated DNA mutations that disrupt normal gene functions and cause uncontrollable cell growth. The Brooks lab participates in national and international efforts to sequence thousands of patients' cancer genomes to identify cancer-specific mutations to better understand the genetic basis of cancer. Along with DNA, messenger RNA (mRNA) is also sequenced from tumor samples, giving a direct read out of the genetic information used by cancer cells. By analyzing both DNA and mRNA sequencing data from these primary tumor samples, we have found multiple DNA mutations that cause alterations in the processing of mRNA, called splicing. It is still unclear how most of these splicing alterations contribute to cancer; therefore, we are using the recent CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing approach to experimentally test if these splicing alterations transform cells into cancerous cells-pointing to a potential genetic target for future therapies.

Speaker: Dr. Angela Brooks, UC Santa Cruz