The Foundation is excited to share an update from Dr. Yolanda Colino Sanguino, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Children’s Cancer Institute in Sydney, New South Wales.
Dr. Sanguino’s research aims to understand the biology of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), the deadliest brain tumour in children; and use this information to find novel and targeted treatments. Dr. Sanguino’s research is funded by the Foundation through a 2021 Early Career Fellowship worth $345,000.
DIPG is an aggressive type of brain tumour that originates in the pons, which is a part of the brainstem. The brainstem is responsible for vital functions such as breathing, heart rate, and consciousness, so tumours in this area can be particularly difficult to treat. Dr. Sanguino’s research aims to gain new information on how cancerous cells are formed through the mutation of histones (proteins that regulate the activity of genes).
Dr. Sanguino and her team created an epigenetic blueprint of DIPG cell lines and, for the first time, mapped the location of a possible new target in DIPG cell lines. Her research also revealed key regions where the driver mutations cooperate with a targetable epigenetic mark to regulate oncogenic gene expression. This data has expanded our current understanding of the complexities of DIPG’s epigenetic landscape and will help design new treatments. In addition, Dr. Sanguino and her colleagues have generated abundant sequencing data that once published, will be made public to the broader research community and enable further kinds of DIPG research.
On the impact Cure Brain Cancer Foundation’s funding had Dr. Sanguino stated:
“The funding from the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation has allowed me to conduct the much-needed fundamental research to understand DIPG biology and has helped me identify a potential new therapeutic target for this devastating disease.”
Read more about Dr. Sanguino’s project here, which is expected to be completed at the end of 2024.
