Masters Applied Projects

Project 27

Effect of AZD-1775 on Epithelioid and Sarcomatoid Mesothelioma Cell Proliferation

Student: Gabrielle Wipper

Mentors: Dr. Christopher Plaisier – SBHSE
Dr. Benjamin Bartelle – SBHSE
Sierra Wilferd – SBHSE

YouTube Link: View the video link below before joining the zoom meeting

Zoom link: https://asu.zoom.us/j/81270725849

Time: 10am – 2pm

Abstract

Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive malignant tumor with an approximate life expectancy of 12-21 months after initial diagnosis. Approximately 3,000 new MPM cases are diagnosed each year in the United States alone. There are two types of MPM: epithelioid as the most common and sarcomatoid. Current effective treatment includes surgical resection in combination with chemotherapy treatments such as cisplatin. Treatments tend to be more effective for the epithelioid type. In a functional genomics screen of the kinome in a primary epithelioid MPM cell line the WEE1 kinase was found to be significantly anti-proliferative when knocked-out. WEE1 is highly expressed in multiple cancer types including MPM and has been determined is therefore a potential target for therapies. The WEE1 kinase inhibitor AZD-1775 was found to also be significantly anti-proliferative in vitro. Currently, AZD-1775 is being tested in clinical trials to determine its efficacy as an MPM treatment. In this experiment we seek to explore the difference in effect that AZD-1775 has on both epithelioid and sarcomatoid MPM cell types. Based on our own functional genomics studies it is hypothesized that AZD-1775 will show more significant effects for the epithelioid cell type. We will also test AZD-1775 in combination with the standard-of-care cisplatin chemotherapy to gauge if there is a synergistic anti-proliferative interaction between the two treatments.