"Engineering and genomic approach to study cancer"

This event sponsored by FAMU-FSU Engineering Department of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering.

Abstract: Pancreatic cancer has the highest mortality rate of all cancers, with a five-year overall survival of 11%. To improve the low survival rate, it is crucial to gain a better understanding of pancreatic cancer progression. Our goal is to combine engineering and genomic approaches to study the biology of the most common form of pancreatic cancer, known as pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). PDAC is characterized by a substantial stromal component, accounting for 90% of the tumor’s mass. This stroma consists of extracellular matrix (ECM) and non-cancerous cells, including inflammatory cells, cancer-associated fibroblasts, and blood vessels. In the first part of the talk, we investigate the consequences of constricted cell migration resulting from a densely packed ECM. Our discoveries indicate that traversing micron-sized constrictions leads to increased DNA damage, potentially resulting in lasting alterations at the genomic, transcriptomic, and phenotypic levels.

Another direction in the lab aims to study the impact of matrix stiffness on the genomic stability of PDAC organoids. However, to use PDAC organoids as a model to study genomic variations, we need to first understand the degree of genomic heterogeneity and its stability within organoids. In the second part of the talk, we utilized single-cell whole-genome sequencing to investigate the genomic diversity of two independent PDAC organoids and their stability during extended culture. Furthermore, our transcriptomic analysis unveiled a positive correlation between copy number alterations and gene expression regulation, suggesting the influence of “gene dosage” on gene expression.

Jerome Irianto, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor Department of Biomedical Sciences

Florida State University College of Medicine

Dr. Jerome Irianto received his Ph.D. training in the School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, UK, with a focus on cartilage tissue engineering and the study of chromatin condensation driven by osmotic challenge. Postdoctoral training in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, with a focus on cancer mechanobiology and the study of genomic instability caused by constricted cell migration.