Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Defying The Darkness: Countering Cancer With Light, Travis Hankins

Honors Theses

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) accounts for upwards of 15% of reported breast cancer cases. This subtype of breast cancer poses a greater threat to those diagnosed as compared to other types of breast cancer due to the lack of treatment options available. Additionally, TNBC grows and spreads faster, tends to be more aggressive, and has a greater chance of recurrence than its counterparts. Altogether, TNBC cases generally have a worse prognosis over other types of breast cancer. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is currently being researched as a way to treat TNBC. Photodynamic therapy agents are light-activated materials used for localized disease …

Novel Role For The Golgi Membrane Protein Tmem165 In Control Of Migration And Invasion For Breast Carcinoma, Pavitra Murali, Blake P. Johnson, Zhongpeng Lu, Leslie Climer, Danielle A. Scott, Francois Foulquier, Gabriela Oprea-Ilies, Vladimir Lupashin, Richard R. Drake, Karen L. Abbott

Articles

The TMEM165 gene encodes for a multiple pass membrane protein localized in the Golgi that has been linked to congenital disorders of glycosylation. The TMEM165 protein is a putative ion transporter that regulates H+/Ca++/Mn++ homeostasis and pH in the Golgi. Previously, we identified TMEM165 as a potential biomarker for breast carcinoma in a glycoproteomic study using late stage invasive ductal carcinoma tissues with patient-matched adjacent normal tissues. The TMEM165 protein was not detected in non-malignant matched breast tissues and was detected in invasive ductal breast carcinoma tissues by mass spectrometry. Our hypothesis is that the TMEM165 protein confers a growth …

Effectiveness And Mechanism Of Action Of Modified Porphyrins For Photodynamic Therapy Of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells, Hannah Brandon

Honors Theses

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer that lacks the three molecules typically targeted for treatment. Standard treatment methods leave much to be desired--the rates of metastasis and recurrence are high and the prognosis for most patients with TNBC is poor. One potential treatment for TNBC is photodynamic therapy (PDT), which uses compounds called photosensitizers that are taken up by all tissues in the body. The tumor is exposed to light, activating the photosensitizer and creating reactive oxygen species that cause cell death. This method is relatively pain-free, effective, and does not harm cells …

Killing Cancer With Light, Kaitlyn Thomas

Honors Theses

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a relatively new treatment option in medicine including treating some types of cancers. PDT utilizes light to activate small molecules for treatment. Some of these molecules used as PDT agents are porphyrin derivatives. While PDT is currently being used in the fight against cancer, it has several limitations and is currently being used in conjunction with chemotherapy and/or radiation in order to be effective. This research focused on synthesizing a new zinc (II) porphyrin and incorporating a fluorescent sulfocycline and testing the compound on the MB 231 breast cancer cell line.

Once the metallated porphyrin was …