Supervisor:
Program of Study:
MSc, Human Biology
Project Title:
Manipulating the kynurenine pathway to devise new breast cancer treatments
Scholarships and/or awards:
- 2024 Thunder Cove Breast Cancer Award
- 2023 NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA)
- 2023 Florence Simmons Global Experience Scholarship
- 2022 Roderick Stirling MacDonald Scholarship – 1,000
- 2020-2022 UPEI Academic Excellence Awards
Lay Research Summary:
Metabolism is often differentially regulated in tumors. While this has been attributed to the need to fuel biosynthesis during cell proliferation, many metabolites have alternative, bioactive, roles. The kynurenine pathway (KP) contains several intermediate metabolites that affect cell phenotypes and may be harnessed therapeutically. However, KP-related therapies have not been successful in part because the functions of all metabolites are not well known. My previous work on this project found that one of the KP intermediates, 3-hydroxyanthranilic acid (3-HAA), decreases cancer cell growth. My project focusses on determining what impact 3-HAA has on breast cancer by determining if the kynurenine pathway can be manipulated to cause 3-HAA to build up to toxic levels and by defining how 3-HAA prevents cell growth. These approaches will help reveal whether the toxic effects of 3-HAA on cancer cells could reveal new breast cancer therapies.
Location:
University of Prince Edward Island