The Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer Research Program encompasses over 20 laboratories doing basic and applied research in cancer gene identification/function, transcriptional regulation, genome stability and gene transfer.

The labs have expertise in:

• model organisms with strong genetic systems such as the mouse, yeast, C. elegans, and Drosophila
• translational research, from testing new therapies to molecular epidemiology. For example, cancer-prone mouse models are available to test exposures that might influence cancer risk in humans.
• generating and studying mice or human cells in which DNA repair systems are compromised. These tools could be used to study gene-environment interactions in determining the ultimate risk for cancer development.

An approach has been developed in the lab of David Largaespada, Ph.D., program leader for the Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer Research Program, for performing forward genetic screens for cancer in the mouse, using a transposable element, which is being pursued to investigate the genetic pathways in which lung, colorectal, and prostate cancer can develop. Theoretically, this system could be used in mice in which environmental factors were altered so as to learn how they might alter the likelihood of cancer and the most favored genetic pathways for its development.

Biological Specimens Available for Research

Several mouse models for cancer are available including cryopreserved material for B cell and T cell malignancies, acute myeloid leukemia, sarcoma, biliary carcinoma, and prostate cancer.

Contact Information

David Largaespada, Ph.D.
larga002@umn.edu

References

Collier LS, Carlson CM, Ravimohan S, Dupuy AJ and Largaespada DA. Cancer gene discovery in solid tumours using transposon-based somatic mutagenesis in the mouse. Nature. 436:272-6. (2005).

Dupuy AJ, Akagi K, Largaespada DA, Copeland NG, and Jenkins NA. Mammalian mutagenesis using a highly mobile somatic Sleeping Beauty transposon system. Nature. 436:221-6. (2005).

Carlson CM, Frandsen JL, Kirchhof N, McIvor RS, and Largaespada DA. Somatic integration of an oncogene-harboring Sleeping Beauty transposon models liver tumor development in the mouse. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 102:17059-64. (2005).