Exploring the Role of Hormones in Cancerous Growth
Disciplines
Cancer Biology | Cell Biology | Developmental Biology | Genetics | Integrative Biology | Medical Cell Biology | Medical Genetics | Medical Molecular Biology | Systems Biology
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Hormones and their role in cancerous growth through the model Drosophila
Violet Coughlin, Joanna Wardwell-Ozgo, PhD
Abstract
Cancer, or uncontrolled cell growth, is a rapidly advancing and devastating disease that affects many. Cancer treatments often fail because cancer presents differently between patients and the treatment doesn’t effectively target each specific characteristic. This leads to the cancer mutating and recurring, but if we can improve our understanding of cancer biology, we can create better and more precise treatments fit to every individual patient. Some cancers, particularly breast cancers, are hormone-receptive. This means that when certain hormones are present, they can encourage cancerous cells to grow, but we still don’t fully know why this happens.To better understand why this occurs, I used the model Drosophila (fruit flies) to see how hormone signaling contributes to cancerous overgrowth. Drosophila is ideal to use in this study because they share 60% of their genes with humans. My project uses Drosophila eye tissue of the model organism to test this question. The Hippo growth pathway is responsible for regulating tissue and organ growth, and causes uncontrolled cell growth when dysregulated. Over- expression of Yorkie, the Drosophila equivalent to the proteins YAP and TAZ causes tissue overgrowth in Drosophila. Ecdysone, the main steroid hormone in insects, binds to its receptor (EcR) to regulate developmental transitions and coordinate cellular changes at each stage of development. My project specifically tests if ecdysone influences cancerous growth caused by the activation of the Hippo growth control pathway. I used the gal-4 driver, GMR-Gal4 to cause the over-expression of Yorkie specifically in Drosophila eyes. I cross those flies to UAS- RFP (negative control), with the experimental 1, UAS – EcRLBD and our experimental 2 UAS-EcRLBD-A483T, and UAS-EcR- all isoforms- RNAi (positive control). After these cross-hatched, I chopped the heads of the flies of the correct genotype and imaged the sides and tops to analyze the width and length of the eye. I hypothesize that ecdysone plays a crucial role in cancerous growth and loss of ecdysone will make the growth smaller. This discovery will support the idea that hormone signaling plays a crucial role in cancerous growth. This makes us one step closer to getting answers on how hormone-driven cancers may be treated in the future.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
CSM - Molecular and Cellular Biology
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Joanna Wardwell- Ozgo
Exploring the Role of Hormones in Cancerous Growth
Hormones and their role in cancerous growth through the model Drosophila
Violet Coughlin, Joanna Wardwell-Ozgo, PhD
Abstract
Cancer, or uncontrolled cell growth, is a rapidly advancing and devastating disease that affects many. Cancer treatments often fail because cancer presents differently between patients and the treatment doesn’t effectively target each specific characteristic. This leads to the cancer mutating and recurring, but if we can improve our understanding of cancer biology, we can create better and more precise treatments fit to every individual patient. Some cancers, particularly breast cancers, are hormone-receptive. This means that when certain hormones are present, they can encourage cancerous cells to grow, but we still don’t fully know why this happens.To better understand why this occurs, I used the model Drosophila (fruit flies) to see how hormone signaling contributes to cancerous overgrowth. Drosophila is ideal to use in this study because they share 60% of their genes with humans. My project uses Drosophila eye tissue of the model organism to test this question. The Hippo growth pathway is responsible for regulating tissue and organ growth, and causes uncontrolled cell growth when dysregulated. Over- expression of Yorkie, the Drosophila equivalent to the proteins YAP and TAZ causes tissue overgrowth in Drosophila. Ecdysone, the main steroid hormone in insects, binds to its receptor (EcR) to regulate developmental transitions and coordinate cellular changes at each stage of development. My project specifically tests if ecdysone influences cancerous growth caused by the activation of the Hippo growth control pathway. I used the gal-4 driver, GMR-Gal4 to cause the over-expression of Yorkie specifically in Drosophila eyes. I cross those flies to UAS- RFP (negative control), with the experimental 1, UAS – EcRLBD and our experimental 2 UAS-EcRLBD-A483T, and UAS-EcR- all isoforms- RNAi (positive control). After these cross-hatched, I chopped the heads of the flies of the correct genotype and imaged the sides and tops to analyze the width and length of the eye. I hypothesize that ecdysone plays a crucial role in cancerous growth and loss of ecdysone will make the growth smaller. This discovery will support the idea that hormone signaling plays a crucial role in cancerous growth. This makes us one step closer to getting answers on how hormone-driven cancers may be treated in the future.