25-10-2012, 11:01 AM
Scanning the Human Genome for Novel Therapeutic Targets for Breast Cancer
ABSTRACT
The broad goal of this project is to develop genome-wide RNAi approaches in mammals and to apply these to the
discovery of new therapeutic targets for cancer. Specifically, we will generate a library of short hairpin RNA expression
constructs (shRNA) that ultimately correspond to every gene in the human genome. These will be made 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 first year 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 falls 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 crate a program, which is capable of meeting the proposed
goal.