Description:

The Translational Research in Solid Tumors (TRIST) Program presents:

Protein Methylation and Mitosis in Glioblastoma

Shi-Yuan Cheng, PhD
Professor
The Ken & Ruth Davee Department of Neurology
Lou & Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Inst. at Northwestern Medicine
Simpson Querrey Inst. for Epigenetics
Feinberg School of Medicine

The Cheng laboratory studies glioblastoma (brain cancer) initiation, tumorigenesis, invasion, metastases and angiogenesis. The lab recently showed that protein modification (methylation) of regulators of chromatin condensation 1 (RCC1) contributes to the stem-like properties of glioblastoma stem cells. Disrupting this unique protein modification on RCC1 results in mitotic defects and decreased tumorigenicity in the brain of animals. Targeting parts of this regulatory pathway improves the cytotoxic activity of radiotherapy against brain tumors in mice with promising potential for translation to the clinic.