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Autophagy-Mediated Mechanisms Of Chemoresistance In Cancer, David Broadbent, Dr. Joshua Andersen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The resistance of tumor cells to chemotherapy is a critical problem in the clinic and is a common cause of mortality in cancer. Emerging data suggests that resistance to chemotherapy is caused by a tumor-expressed protein called 14-3-3ζ, yet the mechanism to explain 14-3-3ζ-mediated chemoresistance is not completely understood (1). Rapid growing tumors often outgrow their blood supply resulting in regions of hypoxia (low glucose and oxygen). These cells must adapt or die and those that do adapt often become metastatic and chemoresistant. A recently proposed mechanism by which cancer cells are able to adapt to hypoxia is via autophagy, …