Identification and Characterization of Modulators of Chemotherapeutic Response in Mouse Models of Cancer

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Biology, 2010.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Doles, Jason (Jason David)
Other Authors: Michael T. Hemann.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/61885
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author Doles, Jason (Jason David)
author2 Michael T. Hemann.
author_facet Michael T. Hemann.
Doles, Jason (Jason David)
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description Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Biology, 2010.
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spelling mit-1721.1/618852019-04-12T11:56:19Z Identification and Characterization of Modulators of Chemotherapeutic Response in Mouse Models of Cancer Doles, Jason (Jason David) Michael T. Hemann. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Biology. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Biology. Biology. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Biology, 2010. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references. Chemotherapeutic drug resistance is a major cause of cancer treatment failure. While much attention has been focused on the genetics of tumor development, less is known about the genetic determinants of therapeutic outcome. As a central focus of my graduate work, I have employed pool-based shRNA-mediated screening methodologies using the Ep-myc lymphoma model to identify genes that modulate the response to front-line chemotherapeutics. In addition to identifying known mediators of chemotherapeutic response, these screens also uncovered several novel genetic targets that influenced the cellular response to selected chemotherapies. Initial in vitro screening experiments identified topoisomerase 2A levels as critical determinants of doxorubicin response. Subsequent follow-up experiments - including one demonstrating doxorubicin sensitization in the presence of topoisomerase 1 shRNAs - revealed important insights into topoisomerase biology and the clinical heterogeneity associated with topoisomerase poison-based therapies. In a related screen, I also found Nek4 levels to be hitherto unappreciated determinants of the cellular response to microtubule poisons. Importantly, I went on to demonstrate that this effect on microtubule poisons was attributable, in part, to Nek4 regulation of microtubule function. In addition to screening-based approaches, I also show that targeted shRNA-mediated knockdown strategies are useful for probing in vivo chemotherapeutic response. By suppressing translesion synthesis, initially in Bcell lymphoma and later in a newly developed transplantable model of murine lung adenocarcinoma, I show that tumors are not only sensitized to clinically relevant chemotherapeutics, but are also partially protected from drug-induced mutagenesis and acquired resistance. Taken together, these results described in this thesis underscore the importance of both large-scale, unbiased gene discovery and target-based interrogation of genetic determinants of chemotherapeutic response. by Jason Doles. Ph.D. 2011-03-24T20:21:35Z 2011-03-24T20:21:35Z 2010 2010 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/61885 706711954 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 212 p. application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Biology.
Doles, Jason (Jason David)
Identification and Characterization of Modulators of Chemotherapeutic Response in Mouse Models of Cancer
title Identification and Characterization of Modulators of Chemotherapeutic Response in Mouse Models of Cancer
title_full Identification and Characterization of Modulators of Chemotherapeutic Response in Mouse Models of Cancer
title_fullStr Identification and Characterization of Modulators of Chemotherapeutic Response in Mouse Models of Cancer
title_full_unstemmed Identification and Characterization of Modulators of Chemotherapeutic Response in Mouse Models of Cancer
title_short Identification and Characterization of Modulators of Chemotherapeutic Response in Mouse Models of Cancer
title_sort identification and characterization of modulators of chemotherapeutic response in mouse models of cancer
topic Biology.
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/61885
work_keys_str_mv AT dolesjasonjasondavid identificationandcharacterizationofmodulatorsofchemotherapeuticresponseinmousemodelsofcancer