Prior Funding

Genes are often dysregulated in cancer and make inappropriate amounts of
mRNAs. The Gardner lab has found that a pathway that is used to destroy
mRNAs, called nonsense mediated RNA decay (NMD), is turned off in many
cancers. Specifically, they found that cellular stresses often generated within
large tumors, including low oxygen, suppress NMD. With support from the
Feldstein Medical Foundation they were able to identify exactly which genes are
regulated by NMD. They also determined that tumor growth is hampered if NMD
is not turned off in cancer. Thus the suppression of NMD with cellular stress
allows cancer cells to better survive these stresses and form tumors. These
findings provide new insights into tumor growth and survival, and predict that a
novel strategy to fight cancer would be to target this stress response.