Pamela Itkin-Ansari, PhD
Reprogramming pancreatic cancer cells back to their original cell type
The lab recently found that a single gene reprograms pancreatic cancer cells back to their original cell type, halting tumor growth in animals. There is precedent for a reprogramming strategy in cancer treatment: it turned acute promyelocytic leukemia, once lethal, into a curable disease. To exploit this previously unrecognized plasticity in pancreatic cancer cells, the lab developed a drug screening platform, and from a screen of 4,300 known drugs identified several compounds that appear to regulate the pathway of interest. Sky funding supports evaluating those hits in mechanistic studies in cells and in an animal model.
The ultimate goal is a drug, or drug combination, that can be translated to the clinic as a novel reprogramming therapy for pancreatic cancer.
Dr. Pamela Itkin-Ansari leads her laboratory at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and the University of California, San Diego.
Seed grants start at $50,000 — awarded by scientists, reported on annually.
Donate →Pamela Itkin-Ansari, PhD
Reprogramming pancreatic cancer cells back to their original cell type
The lab recently found that a single gene reprograms pancreatic cancer cells back to their original cell type, halting tumor growth in animals. There is precedent for a reprogramming strategy in cancer treatment: it turned acute promyelocytic leukemia, once lethal, into a curable disease. To exploit this previously unrecognized plasticity in pancreatic cancer cells, the lab developed a drug screening platform, and from a screen of 4,300 known drugs identified several compounds that appear to regulate the pathway of interest. Sky funding supports evaluating those hits in mechanistic studies in cells and in an animal model.
The ultimate goal is a drug, or drug combination, that can be translated to the clinic as a novel reprogramming therapy for pancreatic cancer.
Dr. Pamela Itkin-Ansari leads her laboratory at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and the University of California, San Diego.
Seed grants start at $50,000 — awarded by scientists, reported on annually.
Donate →