Project 458960

Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) is a devastating disease that is the leading cause of brain-tumour related death in children, for which there is no effective treatment. There are many factors that contribute to this lack of treatments, including the need to discover new targets for therapies, and create animal models with which we can test these therapeutics. I aim to address these issues through two aims: First, I will investigate both cells expressing pro-cancer mutations in important genes, and cancerous cells created from patient tumours to try and determine which proteins that are present at abnormally high levels within these cells can be used as targets. These proteins will be targeted using different treatment types, such as drugs, to try and kill these cancerous cells, while leaving healthy cells relatively unharmed. Secondly, using mice that our lab has mutated to express pro-cancer genes, I will breed these mice in different combinations, to try and create tumours that are similar to those found in patients. The brains of these mice will be extensively studied as they are bred, to determine the best way to create these tumours. Once formed, these tumours will be investigated at the cellular and molecular level, and begin being used as models to try and treat these tumours. Together, these two goals will provide a new avenue for the development of cancer-treating therapies, and a model system of pediatric brainstem gliomas with which to test these therapeutics.