University of California, San Diego
$100,000 Magnolia Council Career Development Research Grant
Research Title:
Inhibition of Wnt signaling to treat Leukemic Stem Cells: A Drug Development Proposal
Wnt signaling promotes the growth and development of many types of cancers, including colon cancer, multiple myeloma, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Furthermore, this pathway is highly active in cancer stem cells. Unfortunately, there are no potent and specific Wnt inhibiting therapies that are currently available.
Agelastatin A is a naturally occurring compound that may fill this need. We plan to fully determine its activity in leukemia stem cells, and to perform the preclinical studies needed before ultimately bringing this promising compound to the clinic.