Brittany Allen-Petersen
Purdue University, IN·Biochemistry
Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of all major cancers. Only about 13% of patients live five years, and most are diagnosed late, when tumors resist treatment.
- Fields
Biochemistry
Pharmacology
Biology
- Topics
pancreatic cancer
pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
macropinocytosis
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2030
What they work on
- Identify how PP2A-B56α, a subunit of a phosphate-removing enzyme, controls the fusion of macropinosomes with lysosomes, focusing on chemical changes made to proteins after they are built.
- Evaluate how activating PP2A affects pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma progression and macropinocytosis, the uptake of surrounding fluid for nutrients, in mouse models.
- Determine whether PP2A activation increases the effectiveness of metabolic inhibitors such as glutamine antagonists against pancreatic cancer cells in culture and against tumors in animals.
More about the research
Pancreatic tumor cells rewire their metabolism and come to depend on the amino acid glutamine, which could be a weak point to attack with drugs. When nutrients run short, however, these cells can swallow surrounding fluid to restock their amino acids. This engulfing process is called macropinocytosis. The project studies how an enzyme switches this nutrient-scavenging process on and off, and whether blocking it can make metabolic drugs work better.
Why it matters
Pancreatic cancer patients have few effective options and a 13% five-year survival rate. Understanding how tumors scavenge nutrients through macropinocytosis could reveal new drug targets. Pairing PP2A-activating drugs with glutamine antagonists may make metabolic therapies more effective against this highly lethal, treatment-resistant cancer.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Wantong Yao
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, TX·Medicine & Clinical Research
Define the molecular pathways through which a newly identified stress-response regulator helps pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cells survive nutrient shortage, low oxygen and oxidative stress, and evade the immune system.
John McAuliffe
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY·Medicine & Clinical Research
Determine whether pancreatic cancer cells circulating in the blood or spread to organs like the liver express NR2F1, a gene-switching receptor linked to dormancy, in mice and in human patients.
Andrew Lowy
University of California-San Diego, CA·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test whether deleting MICAL2, an actin-dismantling enzyme, blocks or delays KRAS-driven pancreatic tumor formation and progression, using whole-body and conditional deletion in genetically engineered mice.
The school
Purdue University: 43 labs on PI Pages, $932M a year on research, 833 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.