Project description:The purpose of this study is to determine the proportion of patients diagnosed with Lynch syndrome in colorectal cancer patients with the loss of staining by immunohistochemistry (IHC) of any of the mismatch repair (MMR) proteins. Besides, this study aims to test the specificity and the sensitivity of detecting microsatellite instability (MSI) by next-generation sequencing, and to find out the consistency between IHC and MSI in colorectal cancer patients in China. In addition, researchers want to analyze the clinical characteristics and germline mutation of Lynch syndrome in Chinese population.
Project description:The method to analyze the microsatellite instability (MSI) status by next-generation sequencing (NGS) has been established to assess the deficiency of DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system. The aim of our study is to evaluate the feasibility and reliability of this NGS method by testing the circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in blood sample of advanced colorectal cancer patients. If the result is positive, the MSI status could be easily learned without the acquisition of tissue samples.
Project description:A cross-species analysis identified MELK as a potential therapeutic target in prostate cancer. To further elucidate the functional role of MELK in prostate cancer cells, we aimed to identify MELK-regulated genes. C4-2b cells were either treated with a small-molecule MELK inhibitor (OTSSP167), or transfected with siRNAs targeting MELK. Differentially expressed genes were identified using next-generation sequencing. Our results demonstrate that MELK promotes the expression of genes associated with tumour progression in prostate cancer cells.