Congratulations to Ying Liu
On Nov. 10th, 2022, Ying Liu at the DNRF Center for Chromosome Stability was awarded 500,000 DKK by the NEYE Foundation to analyze whether a DNA end-resection factor could specifically help cancer cells to proliferate.
During cell proliferation, when the more than 6 billion DNA base-pairs must be copied, it is inevitable that DNA damage is generated. The most severe form of damage is a double-strand DNA break (DSB), which can arise during DNA replication. Fortunately, a group of enzymes exist that can act to repair this damage. Cancer cells proliferate more than normal cells and would encounter more DNA damage. Recently, the Liu group identified that a factor that is an enzyme known to process the ends of DSBs, can specifically help cancer cells to survive by operating in a process called mitotic DNA synthesis (MiDAS). Because this protein needs to work together with a DNA unwinding enzyme (a helicase), we hypothesized that this factors could work together with a helicase called RTEL1 to complete MiDAS, In this project, the Liu group will address how this factor will work together with RTEL1 in MiDAS in cancer cells using advanced molecular biology, biochemical, and high throughput imaging technologies. The outcome of this project will allow us to understand how this factors helps cancer cells to grow, and could facilitate the development of targeted cancer therapies.