Kevin Song
Program: Unspecified
Current advisor:
Undergraduate university: Washington University
Research summary
n breast and prostate cancer that metastasize to the bone, integrin b3 is usually expressed at higher levels. These metastases are more resistant to chemotherapies and increase expression of integrin b3 upon treatment, further increasing drug resistance. Through RNA sequencing it was found that these cancers have increased expression of DNA damage and DNA stress response genes as well as alterations in SMAD phosphorylation. During my rotation I assessed the effectiveness of avb3 integrin targeted nanoparticles on 2 preclinical models of breast cancer bone and visceral metastases. These nanoparticles were developed in collaboration with Dr. Greg Lanza and will be conjugated with DNA damage inducing agents and SMAD inhibitors. At the same time, I also performed in vitro and ex vivo assays to quantitate and identify specific DNA damage pathways in b3 proficient and deficient cell lines.
Graduate publications