Identifying Regulators of Cancer Stem Cells in Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal malignancies in human due to its late detection, highly metastatic characteristics, and poor responsiveness to current therapeutics. Pancreatic tumorigenesis involves a dedifferentiation process of cellular identity and the acquisition of a stem cell-like state of a subpopulation of cells known as cancer stem cells (CSCs). These cells are exceptionally important due to their higher therapeutic resistance and phenotypic plasticity that allows CSCs to metastasize and give rise to tumours. Currently, it remains largely unclear, which molecular markers and protein machineries control the stem cell-like identity of pancreatic CSCs. This knowledge would be valuable for earlier cancer detection and for developing more efficient pancreatic cancer therapeutics in the future.

The research objective of the project is to identify and characterize novel transcriptional regulators which govern gene expression of pancreatic cancer cells, particularly stem cell-like characteristics CSCs. The project will apply a broad range of cutting-edge research techniques such as 2D and 3D human cell culture systems, co-cultures of different cell types, next-generation single cell sequencing (scRNA-seq, scATAC-seq) of tumoural subpopulations in genetically engineered murine models (GEMMs) of pancreas cancer, functional studies (CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing, tumour sphere assays), mechanistic studies (confocal microscopy, flow cytometry, cell sorting, CyTOF, western blotting), patient samples and mouse in vivo studies.

Collectively, this project will provide key insights to the signalling pathways and molecular mechanisms essential for the formation and maintenance of pancreatic CSCs, helping to better understand the tumorigenic process, and to uncover novel ways for diagnosing and treating this lethal cancer.