Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Colorectal cancer has two types. One is more aggressive and the other is less aggressive. The less aggressive colorectal cancer has a stronger immune response which is a defensive response against danger in the body such as cancer. My project aims to identify whether a mutated protein known as TFAM can alter the nutrient use by these less aggressive colorectal cancer cells so that the immune cells, which should be able to kill cancer, are able to use these nutrients to promote cancer killing instead. TFAM is mutated in 70% of patients with the less aggressive colorectal cancer and its main role is to regulate the health of the energy generating compartment in the cell. I believe that this mutation in TFAM will cause a disruption in nutrient use by this compartment which will in turn lead to greater nutrient availability for the immune system and strengthen its cancer killing ability. Cells representing each type of colorectal cancer will be used. These cells will be genetically modified to have the mutation in TFAM. Once we have mutated TFAM in our cancer cells, we will characterize the health of the energy generating compartment by looking for changes in its shape via a microscope. We will also assess whether the defensive response is being triggered by the TFAM truncation in the cancer cells which will subsequently alert the immune system to attack. Afterwards, we will measure the amount of nutrients that are being consumed and produced by the cancer cells with and without the TFAM truncation. This will then allow us to determine whether the nutrient use by the cancer will change how the immune cells are attracted to the cancer. By understanding how nutrients can play a role in triggering an immune response, we hope to use this information to provide patients with a non-invasive treatment strategy involving nutrient supplements or dietary changes that can help boost the body's immune response.