Hormones and their possible effect on cancerous growth through the model Drosophila
Disciplines
Cell Biology | Developmental Biology | Other Cell and Developmental Biology | Other Microbiology
Abstract (300 words maximum)
With the rate of cancer increasing all over the world, it is important to consider that we still don’t have the best solution for patients. According to the American Cancer society, there will be an estimated 2,041,910 new cancer diagnoses and an estimated 618,120 cancer deaths in the United States in 2025. There is estimated to be 319,750 new breast cancer diagnoses for both sexes in 2025 (Cancer Facts & Figures 2025, 2025). Breast cancer often evolves from cells that receive information from hormones to drive its uncontrolled cell growth, but we still aren't sure how this is caused. One important pathway for cancer growth is the Hippo pathway. The Hippo pathway operates the same way in Drosophila as it does in humans. It is unknown however, if the Hippo growth control pathway and hormones work together to cause cancer. To better understand this, we use the model Drosophila to measure whether hormone signaling is important for tissue overgrowth. Drosophila (fruit flies) are a great model for diseases in the human body, as it is estimated that we share 60% of the same genes. This study uses the eyes of Drosophila to investigate if hormone signaling is important for yki-driven overgrowth in the eye tissue. To better understand the importance of hormones in disease, the Wardwell-Ozgo lab developed a set of tools to allow us the ability to investigate the role of hormone signaling at a cellular, tissue, or behavioral level. The eye specific Gal4-driver, GMR, was used to cause the overexpression of Yki (GMR-Gal4; UAS-YkiV5) and were crossed with flies with the proteins UAS–RFP (negative control), UAS-EcRLBD, UAS-EcRLBD-A83T, and UAS-EcR-all isoforms-RNAi (positive control). Then, when these crosses hatched, I chopped the heads off and took images of the heads from top and sides to measure the length and width of the eyes to test whether disrupting hormonal signaling changed the Yki-induced overgrowth phenotype. My prediction is that eye size will decrease with the co-expression of Yki and EcRLBD, showing that hormone signaling is important. By further understanding the role hormones play in hormone-driven cancers, we can develop better solutions and therapies for those diagnosed with these cancers. Our next step is to look at different tissues and see if what we find holds true. If growth is affected in eye and wing tissue, we feel we may have uncovered a link that is broad biologically. If so, we can have increased confidence that this link exists in humans, leading to a more effective path and treatment for those with hormone-driven cancers. The Wardwell-Ozgo lab aims to better understand these hormones as driving forces of disease and development. We specifically follow the Ecdysone receptor, the major protein involved in hormone signaling in flies (Wardwell-Ozgo). The specific proteins used were UAS-EcRLBD and UAS-EcRLBD-A83T. We predict that GMR-Gal4; UAS-Yki-V5 will have a large overgrowth in the eyes, and depriving the tissue of proper hormonal signaling will show supporting evidence that hormones drive cancerous growth. My prediction is that eye size will decrease with the co-expression of Yki and EcRLBD, showing that hormone signaling is important. By further understanding the role hormones play in hormone-driven cancers, we can develop better solutions and therapies for those diagnosed with these cancers. Our next step is to look at different tissues and see if what we find holds true. If growth is affected in eye and wing tissue, we feel we may have uncovered a link that is broad biologically. If so, we are able to have increased confidence that this link exists in humans, leading to a more effective path and treatment for those with hormone-driven cancers.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
CSM - Molecular and Cellular Biology
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Joanna Wardwell-Ozgo
Hormones and their possible effect on cancerous growth through the model Drosophila
With the rate of cancer increasing all over the world, it is important to consider that we still don’t have the best solution for patients. According to the American Cancer society, there will be an estimated 2,041,910 new cancer diagnoses and an estimated 618,120 cancer deaths in the United States in 2025. There is estimated to be 319,750 new breast cancer diagnoses for both sexes in 2025 (Cancer Facts & Figures 2025, 2025). Breast cancer often evolves from cells that receive information from hormones to drive its uncontrolled cell growth, but we still aren't sure how this is caused. One important pathway for cancer growth is the Hippo pathway. The Hippo pathway operates the same way in Drosophila as it does in humans. It is unknown however, if the Hippo growth control pathway and hormones work together to cause cancer. To better understand this, we use the model Drosophila to measure whether hormone signaling is important for tissue overgrowth. Drosophila (fruit flies) are a great model for diseases in the human body, as it is estimated that we share 60% of the same genes. This study uses the eyes of Drosophila to investigate if hormone signaling is important for yki-driven overgrowth in the eye tissue. To better understand the importance of hormones in disease, the Wardwell-Ozgo lab developed a set of tools to allow us the ability to investigate the role of hormone signaling at a cellular, tissue, or behavioral level. The eye specific Gal4-driver, GMR, was used to cause the overexpression of Yki (GMR-Gal4; UAS-YkiV5) and were crossed with flies with the proteins UAS–RFP (negative control), UAS-EcRLBD, UAS-EcRLBD-A83T, and UAS-EcR-all isoforms-RNAi (positive control). Then, when these crosses hatched, I chopped the heads off and took images of the heads from top and sides to measure the length and width of the eyes to test whether disrupting hormonal signaling changed the Yki-induced overgrowth phenotype. My prediction is that eye size will decrease with the co-expression of Yki and EcRLBD, showing that hormone signaling is important. By further understanding the role hormones play in hormone-driven cancers, we can develop better solutions and therapies for those diagnosed with these cancers. Our next step is to look at different tissues and see if what we find holds true. If growth is affected in eye and wing tissue, we feel we may have uncovered a link that is broad biologically. If so, we can have increased confidence that this link exists in humans, leading to a more effective path and treatment for those with hormone-driven cancers. The Wardwell-Ozgo lab aims to better understand these hormones as driving forces of disease and development. We specifically follow the Ecdysone receptor, the major protein involved in hormone signaling in flies (Wardwell-Ozgo). The specific proteins used were UAS-EcRLBD and UAS-EcRLBD-A83T. We predict that GMR-Gal4; UAS-Yki-V5 will have a large overgrowth in the eyes, and depriving the tissue of proper hormonal signaling will show supporting evidence that hormones drive cancerous growth. My prediction is that eye size will decrease with the co-expression of Yki and EcRLBD, showing that hormone signaling is important. By further understanding the role hormones play in hormone-driven cancers, we can develop better solutions and therapies for those diagnosed with these cancers. Our next step is to look at different tissues and see if what we find holds true. If growth is affected in eye and wing tissue, we feel we may have uncovered a link that is broad biologically. If so, we are able to have increased confidence that this link exists in humans, leading to a more effective path and treatment for those with hormone-driven cancers.