Specialty:
Oncogenes,
Cancer progression, Genomic Instability in Cancer
Location:
University
of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Prerequisites:
Two
completed years of college with emphasis on biochemistry or cell biology
Number of Openings: 1-2
Objective:
Ongoing cancer projects focus on unraveling
how the oncogene Aurora Kinase A or gain-of-function (GOF) mutations in the
tumor suppressor p53 promote the formation of metastatic skin carcinomas.
Description:
Students will (1) aid in the
characterization of target genes of GOF p53 in genetically engineered mouse
skin cancer models and in human SCC cell lines, and (2) help to determine if
Aurora Kinase-A can cooperate with Ras signaling to transforms skin epithelial
cells in vitro. Techniques that will be
learned include qPCR, tissue culture, immunostaining and confocal microscopy. Students will also learn to organize data, interpret and
discuss results according to the literature.