Department of Molecular Biology Seminar Series: Epigenetic Regulation of Tumor Cell Plasticity and Therapeutic Responsiveness

Tumor cells utilize a very diverse array of mechanisms to proliferate uncontrolled, evade therapy and metastasize. Irrespective of the underlying cause of a tumor, essentially all tumor-specific changes ultimately converge in the altered expression of genes in the cell. The goal of our work is to understand the epigenetic and transcriptional regulatory processes by which tumor-specific changes in gene activity lead to tumorigenesis and tumor progression. More importantly, we aim to utilize this information to identify better and more efficient therapies for various gastrointestinal tumors.