WEHI Wednesday Seminar hosted by Professor Marco Herold
 

Maggie Potts
PhD Student – Herold Laboratory, Blood Cells & Blood Cancer division – Cancer Research & Treatments Theme, WEHI
(this is a PhD Completion seminar)

Employing CRISPR/Cas9 screening in vivo to identify novel tumour suppressor genes in cancer

 

Davis Auditorium

Join via SLIDO enter code #WEHIWednesday

Including Q&A session
 

Over the past century cancer researchers have discovered critical cancer driving genes, enabling us to better diagnose malignancies, develop novel therapies, and implement targeted treatment. Next generation sequencing analysis of primary human tumours has enabled us to dive deeper into understanding how mutations promote tumorigenesis. A key limitation of deep sequencing is that it cannot distinguish driver mutations from passenger mutations, nor can it reveal how such mutations alter cellular function. The expanding toolbox of CRISPR technologies complements these past approaches, as it allows us to directly perturb potential genes of interest via unbiased, specific, functional screening.  

While in vitro CRISPR screening allows identification of tumour essential genes or therapy resistance genes, in vivo analysis better models cancer initiation, progression and metastasis. Using in vivo modelling the cellular environment is intact, including the tumour microenvironment, the immune system and cellular interactions. However, CRISPR screening in vivo has been limited by the difficulty delivering the CRISPR components and sgRNAs into primary target cells, and by challenges in achieving sufficient coverage with whole genome sgRNA libraries.   

During Maggie’s PhD, she has employed cutting edge CRISPR knockout and activation technologies to identify and interrogate tumorigenic genes through in vivo genetic screens in normal haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs). In this seminar, Maggie will present her findings on the novel tumour suppressor targets, TFAP4 and the GATOR1 complex, in MYC-driven lymphoma.  

All welcome!