Research

Project Title: Identification, functional characterization, and targeting of CRTC1-MAML2 fusion oncogene

Principal Investigator: Lizi Wu, Ph.D., Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology

Graduate Student Mentor: Kyle Scheller

Kaitlyn Drew has been working in the Wu Lab in the Cancer and Genetics Research Complex since August 2024. By her current comprehension, with such large variations in the manifestations of cancer, current approaches are not perfect. But no longer do immunotherapies and personalized treatments exist only in imagination; cancer research to identify and understand cancer drivers so that they can be targeted by precision medicine draws nearer to a real cure. Such innovations will be revolutionary in the realm of cancer prognoses, and the course of cancer patients' lives will unquestionably be altered. She believes that working in a cancer research laboratory is the greatest possible opportunity for learning and growth, to find purpose in her work, and above all, to help people. Contribution to this cause is the change she wants to make.

For mucoepidermoid carcinoma (MEC), the most common salivary gland malignancy, the only effective management is surgical resection with postoperative radiation. In cases of MEC that are unresectable, recurrent, or metastatic, there is no effective systemic treatment available.

MEC is frequently associated with a specific chromosomal mutation: a t(11;19)(q14-21;p12-13) translocation (translocation: a genetic change when a chromosome breaks and a piece attaches to another chromosome or two chromosomes trade pieces with each other; two main types are reciprocal (segments) and Robertsonian (entire pieces that attach at centromere); can be balanced (no problems usually) or unbalanced (problems)) that creates a CRTC1-MAML2 fusion gene.

There is a curious phenomenon exhibited by these proteins, which is a localization pattern. These proteins are tagged with GFP to be studied.