Scanning the Human Genome for Novel Therapeutic Targets for Breast Cancer

Abstract

Abstract : The broad goal of this project was to develop genome-wide RNAi approaches in mammals and to apply these to the discovery of new therapeutic targets for cancer. Specifically, we have generated and continue to build a library of short hairpin RNA expression constructs (shRNA) that will ultimately correspond to every gene in the human and mouse genomes. These are presently available as a public resource and used internally to screen for genes that are essential to the survival of breast cancer cells but which are dispensable for the survival of normal cells. A subset of these might prove suitable as therapeutic targets for breast cancer therapy. During the course of funding, two things have become clear. First, although they were not in place at the time of submitting this application, we have largely developed the technologies necessary to pursue the above goal. Second, funding in the Innovator award fell far short of that necessary to achieve the goal. Relevant to the last point, we have been able to leverage the Innovator award with several other funding sources to create a program, which was more suited to meeting the proposed goals.