MS Thesis, Bui Lab
Gap in Research
- Previous research has established an interplay between cancer stem cells (CSC) and the interferon (IFN) signaling pathway in various cancer types showing pro and anti tumorigenic effects of IFN
- Further research is needed to understand this interaction and explore the anti-CSC property for immunotherapy, and downregulate the pro-CSC capabilities.
- We can identify genes affected by IFN experience, providing a target for immunogenic drugs that can reduce CSC growth
Skills
Flow cytometry, cell and tissue culture, nucleic acid extraction, qPCR, cell-based assays and immunoassays, immunophenotyping, genotyping, immunostaining, mouse work, primer design, molecular biology techniques, GraphPad Prism, FACSDiva, FlowJo, ImageJ, MS Office
Project Duration
1.5 years
Our Model
Our IFNAR activation reporter model uses the Mx1-Cre reporter system helped to track type I IFN experience on cancer cells and immune cells in vivo
Hypothesis 1: There are phenotypic and functional differences between IFN experienced and IFN naïve bone marrow macrophages.
Experiment Set 1
Growing bone marrow macrophages and checking marker expression
LPS stimulation of bone marrow macrophages
Endocytosis assay with bone marrow and spleen cells
Hypothesis 2: IFN experienced tumor cells are more stem like
Experiment Set 2
- Tumor proliferation in vitro and in vivo
- Sphere formation and initiation assays
- Stem cell marker immunostaining analysis
Experiment Set 3
- Differential gene expression between IFN experienced and naïve cells
- Gene and pathway analysis
- Evaluating epigenetic inhibitor effects on gene expression
Other projects at the Bui Lab
- Setting up pilot experiment for testing stat1/stat3 association with IFN treatment in breast cancer cell lines
- Tumor growth measurement studies
- Tissue collection and genotyping for other projects in the lab
- Presenting in weekly meetings and training new lab members
- Assisting with instrument maintenance and troubleshooting