Location
University of Nevada Las Vegas
Start Date
6-8-2009 9:30 AM
End Date
6-8-2009 12:00 PM
Description
Melanoma is the most rapidly increasing malignancy among young people in the United States. If detected early, the disease is easily treated; however, once the disease has metastasized it is largely refractory to conventional therapies and is associated with a high mortality rate. The development of human cancer from a pre-malignant primary tumor to a metastatic lesion that develops at secondary sites is thought to be a multi-step process, requiring many genetic and epigenetic events that provide a growth advantage to cells. It is still unclear which of the many genetic changes in human cancers are required for metastasis. Therefore, it is critical to evaluate each step in the metastatic process. To this end, we will generate novel lentiviral vectors containing fluorescent reporter genes to better understand the metastatic potential of melanoma cells. Vectors containing green fluorescent protein (GFP) have already been generated while vectors containing red fluorescent protein (RFP) and yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) will be cloned. Viruses will be generated and used to infect syngeneic explanted tumor cells. Since each vector will be marked with a reporter gene of a different color, we will be able to track the movement of these cells in vivo and determine the source of each metastatic tumor. Whole body fluorescence will be detected using the FluorVivo Imaging System (INDEC BioSystems, Santa Clara, CA). The experiments proposed will contribute to an increased understanding of the biology of melanoma, which has the potential to identify specific molecular targets and promote the development of more effective therapies for advanced stages of this disease.
Keywords
Genetic research; Melanoma; Metastasize; Skin cancer
Disciplines
Cancer Biology | Dermatology | Oncology
Language
English
pDEST FG12-CMV DsRed Vector
University of Nevada Las Vegas
Melanoma is the most rapidly increasing malignancy among young people in the United States. If detected early, the disease is easily treated; however, once the disease has metastasized it is largely refractory to conventional therapies and is associated with a high mortality rate. The development of human cancer from a pre-malignant primary tumor to a metastatic lesion that develops at secondary sites is thought to be a multi-step process, requiring many genetic and epigenetic events that provide a growth advantage to cells. It is still unclear which of the many genetic changes in human cancers are required for metastasis. Therefore, it is critical to evaluate each step in the metastatic process. To this end, we will generate novel lentiviral vectors containing fluorescent reporter genes to better understand the metastatic potential of melanoma cells. Vectors containing green fluorescent protein (GFP) have already been generated while vectors containing red fluorescent protein (RFP) and yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) will be cloned. Viruses will be generated and used to infect syngeneic explanted tumor cells. Since each vector will be marked with a reporter gene of a different color, we will be able to track the movement of these cells in vivo and determine the source of each metastatic tumor. Whole body fluorescence will be detected using the FluorVivo Imaging System (INDEC BioSystems, Santa Clara, CA). The experiments proposed will contribute to an increased understanding of the biology of melanoma, which has the potential to identify specific molecular targets and promote the development of more effective therapies for advanced stages of this disease.
Comments
Abstract & poster