Presenter(s)

Jordan M Terschluse

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Description

Through all the medical advancements made in cancer detection and treatment over the centuries, there still is no cure for most cancer types. A class of chemicals called tyrosine kinase inhibitors seems the most promising, as most cancers show activation of tyrosine kinase dependent oncogenic pathways. However the efficacy of these drugs is poor, suggesting that new approaches like combination therapy need to be tested. In this approach, two drugs that show mild effects are tried in combination to check for additive effects or improved efficacy. In our lab, we analyzed the effects of both the promising class of tyrosine kinase inhibitors as well as Temozolomide, a chemical that has shown immense success in treating human glioma patients. These effects were analyzed using a Drosophila glioma model, due to Drosophila melanogaster having a high percentage of conserved genes that are known to cause diseases in humans. Using these orthologous genes, it is possible to model human diseases like glioma in flies, and the results from flies may be extrapolated to mammalian models. Results from these studies will be of immense importance to the medical field, specifically dealing with different treatment options for patients.

Publication Date

4-24-2019

Project Designation

Honors Thesis

Primary Advisor

Madhuri Kango-Singh

Primary Advisor's Department

Biology

Keywords

Stander Symposium project

Discovering Glioma Inhibitors via Chemical-genetic Screens in Drosophila Cancer Models

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