Honors Theses

Advisor

Madhuri Kango-Singh

Department

Biology

Publication Date

4-26-2020

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Abstract

Glioma are glia-derived brain tumors that have poor prognosis. This thesis project tests Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor drugs that have shown promise during an ongoing chemical drug screen on an alternate oncogenic pathway. In the ongoing chemical screen, tumors were induced in Drosophila melanogaster by expressing PtenRNAi to eliminate the tumor suppressor gene, Pten, which negatively regulates the Pi3K pathway. For this thesis project, tumors will be induced through constitutively activating the EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor) through the Pi3K pathway. Therefore, these two projects individually look at two different types of glioma and aim to determine if certain drugs show promise on more than one type of glioma. A series of crosses over the course of three generations is performed to balance chromosomes of the flies and result in the genotype with the EGFR mutation. Data collection includes exposing these flies to the specific tyrosine kinase inhibitor drugs when added to their food. Larvae is collected, dissected to obtain the brains, washed and mounted on microscope slides after 2 and 3 days of exposure to the drugs. Images are taken of the mounted brains for further data analysis. In order to conclude if these drugs showed similar promise as in the existing chemical screen, images will be examined for enhancement, suppression or no effect in comparison to Pi3k; Repo control brains of flies left untreated.

Permission Statement

This item is protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code) and may only be used for noncommercial, educational, and scholarly purposes.

Keywords

Undergraduate research

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