Grant: Undergraduate: Summer Studentship Award - Institute Community Support

Cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCLs) are a group of skin cancers that begin in the immune system's T-cells and show consequences at the skin's surface. We have previously uncovered specific genes that may play an important role in the pathways of CTCL, including the TOX, CTAGE-1 and GTSF-1 genes. However, the roles of these genes in normal immune T-cells are not yet fully understood. The goal of this project is to understand the functions of the TOX, CTAGE-1 and GTSF-1 genes in normal immune T-cells, and in T-cells with higher than normal levels of the TOX, CTAGE-1 and GTSF-1 genes. We will characterize the levels of gene expression in different T-cell subpopulations and measure the T-cells' survival and inflammation. It is important to compare and contrast T-cells with low and high levels of the TOX, CTAGE-1 and GTSF-1 genes in order to better understand the genes of interest's functions, understand how they may lead to cancer inflammation in CTCL, and ultimately to come up with new targets to improve the lives of patients affected by CTCL and inflammation in general.