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Life Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Cell and Developmental Biology

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Selected Works

2013

Chemical Screening

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Modeling Colorectal Cancer As A 3-Dimensional Disease In A Dish: The Case For Drug Screening Using Organoids, Zebrafish, And Fruit Flies, Michele Markstein Jan 2013

Modeling Colorectal Cancer As A 3-Dimensional Disease In A Dish: The Case For Drug Screening Using Organoids, Zebrafish, And Fruit Flies, Michele Markstein

Michele Markstein

This review discusses recent shifts in the understanding of colorectal cancer as a stem cell based disease, based on findings that tie patient prognosis to the presence of cancer stem cells in colorectal tumors. Currently no drugs specifically target CSCs in colorectal tumors. However, recent advances in the culturing of colorectal stem cells using mammalian organoids, zebrafish, and Drosophila offer promising avenues for anti-CSC drug discovery.


Complementary Genomic Screens Identify Serca As A Therapeutic Target In Notch1 Mutated Cancer, G. Roti, A. Carlton, Kn. Ross, Michele Markstein, K. Pajcini, A. H. Su, N. Perrimon, W. S. Pear, A. L. Kung, S. C. Blacklow, J. C. Aster, K. Stegmaier Jan 2013

Complementary Genomic Screens Identify Serca As A Therapeutic Target In Notch1 Mutated Cancer, G. Roti, A. Carlton, Kn. Ross, Michele Markstein, K. Pajcini, A. H. Su, N. Perrimon, W. S. Pear, A. L. Kung, S. C. Blacklow, J. C. Aster, K. Stegmaier

Michele Markstein

Notch1 is a rational therapeutic target in several human cancers, but as a transcriptional regulator, it poses a drug discovery challenge. To identify Notch1 modulators, we performed two cell-based, high-throughput screens for small-molecule inhibitors and cDNA enhancers of a NOTCH1 allele bearing a leukemia-associated mutation. Sarco/endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase (SERCA) channels emerged at the intersection of these complementary screens. SERCA inhibition preferentially impairs the maturation and activity of mutated Notch1 receptors and induces a G0/G1 arrest in NOTCH1-mutated human leukemia cells. A small-molecule SERCA inhibitor has on-target activity in two mouse models of human leukemia and interferes with Notch signaling …