Meet Milin Rana
Major: Biology
Graduation Year: December 2015 Field of Study: Therapeutic Oncology Abstract: Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is an aggressive and rapid-growing form of lung cancer. The disease is marked with high mortality and poor prognosis. SCLC has a good initial response to chemotherapy however chemo-refractory relapse and recurrence is a common problem and often fatal. The poor understanding of SCLC disease etiology has precluded the identification of therapeutic targets and effective treatments. To date, no molecularly targeted agents have prolonged survival in patients with SCLC. The lack of advanced therapeutics for SCLC both represents an important unmet clinical need. The goal of the project was to identify the potency and efficacy of small molecule inhibitors as a therapeutic for SCLC and their ability to reduce cancer stem cell activity. Tests of six drugs were conducted in patient derived SCLC (hSCLC) cell lines to better understand inhibitory effects of small molecule inhibitors on particular characteristics in the hSCLC cell lines. The six drugs (etoposide, THZ1, JQ1 –BRD4 inhibitor, iBET –bromodomain inhibitor, AZD7762 –CHK 1/2 inhibitor, and BKM120 –PI3K inhibitor) were tested for their effect on SCLC viability in MTS, Cell Tox Green, colony formation, and cell cycle analysis assays. The IC50 values for the drugs were measured. We found at 96 hr endpoint, THZ1 has highest potency and efficacy in SCLC cells in its ability to inhibit cell proliferation at 5nM and induce cell death at 20nM. The effect of THZ1 on SCLC cancer stem cell (CSC) activity was achieved through profiling activity of ALDH, a marker for CSC in lung cancer. THZ1 reduced colony forming ability and percentage of ALDH+ (CSC) in SCLC. We conclude THZ1 has great potential for treating SCLC. |
My Experience:
Green Fellows allowed me to conduct full-time independent research while not compromising coursework; it was truly a great learning experience. I worked in Dr. Minna’s Lab directly under a Post-doctoral researcher, Shanshan. Under her expertise, I was able to further develop critical thinking skills and gain laboratory/research training. Being fully immersed in research opened my mind and gave me a better perspective of academic research through the rigor and challenges. There were many ups and downs but through mistakes and failed experiments, learning along the way was self-fulfilling and ultimately rewarding. The Green Fellows program was a highly enriching experience for me and being surrounded by highly-motivated researchers was influential; this experience has reinforced my interest to partake in interdisciplinary research in my future career. |
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My Advice:
1. Read papers. When choosing a research lab, search the UTSW faculty pages to see which labs interest you. Read some of their recent publications to familiarize yourself with their projects and future directions. Also during your fellowship, read a paper every couple of days to learn and understand the current and past work in the field.
2. Attend Seminars. During your time at UTSW, attend as many conferences, seminars and WIPS (Work-In-Progress Seminars) as you are able to (those are also free food opportunities). You can learn a great deal of information about some of the cutting-edge research happening at UTSW and also gain insight on different experiment methods, how to present research findings and may also help tackle research questions of your own.
3. Patience and Planning. I learned from my mentors that having patience is key and planning your experiments will help you stay atop of your project.
4. Do not hesitate to ask questions. Also get to know your lab members and the other Green Fellows.
5. Do not get discouraged at mistakes or failed experiments, those come with the nature of science. Learning from the mistakes and making changes for future experiments is what will help you to answer or modify your project aims.
6. Be open-minded and have fun!
1. Read papers. When choosing a research lab, search the UTSW faculty pages to see which labs interest you. Read some of their recent publications to familiarize yourself with their projects and future directions. Also during your fellowship, read a paper every couple of days to learn and understand the current and past work in the field.
2. Attend Seminars. During your time at UTSW, attend as many conferences, seminars and WIPS (Work-In-Progress Seminars) as you are able to (those are also free food opportunities). You can learn a great deal of information about some of the cutting-edge research happening at UTSW and also gain insight on different experiment methods, how to present research findings and may also help tackle research questions of your own.
3. Patience and Planning. I learned from my mentors that having patience is key and planning your experiments will help you stay atop of your project.
4. Do not hesitate to ask questions. Also get to know your lab members and the other Green Fellows.
5. Do not get discouraged at mistakes or failed experiments, those come with the nature of science. Learning from the mistakes and making changes for future experiments is what will help you to answer or modify your project aims.
6. Be open-minded and have fun!