Tianpeng Zhang, PhD
A new $2.2 million grant from the NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences has been awarded to Tianpeng Zhang, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology and Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, and member of UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center (UVACCC) at University of Virginia School of Medicine. The five-year award will support Dr. Zhang’s research on genome integrity maintenance mechanisms within repetitive DNA sequences.
Repetitive DNA sequences comprise a large portion of the genome. The repetitive DNA sequences instability predisposes individuals to multiple diseases, including cancers, neurological disorders, and age-related diseases. This project aims to explore the genetic requirement and molecular mechanisms of how break-induced replication (BIR), a specialized error-prone DNA repair mechanism, contributes to repetitive DNA sequences genome maintenance. The project will leverage quantitative proteome approaches to investigate how alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT)-positive cancers utilize BIR for telomere lengthening, that occurs in approximately 15% of human cancers, including aggressive, high-mortality malignancies like (pediatric) osteosarcoma, glioblastoma, and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors. Furthermore, the award will also support the team to innovate enzymatic tools, long-read sequencing and quantitative proteome approaches to investigate genome integrity maintenance within non-telomere repetitive DNA sequences.
Altogether, this research will advance understanding of genome integrity maintenance mechanisms and offer insights into repetitive DNA sequences instability in cancers and other diseases. The findings will provide critical resources for developing therapeutic strategies by targeting BIR-related vulnerabilities.
The Zhang Laboratory appreciates support from the Departments of Radiation Oncology and Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and UVACCC’s GEN program. Dr. Zhang also acknowledges many internal and external collaborators and mentors including: James Larner, MD, Tarek Abbas, PhD, Wenpeng Liu, PhD, Anja Bielinsky, PhD, Eric Hendrickson, PhD, Yuh-Hwa Wang, PhD, Todd Stukenberg, PhD, Shangming Tang, PhD, Tian Zhang, PhD, and Chongzhi Zang, PhD, from the University of Virginia, and Roger Greenberg MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania, Weixing Zhao, PhD, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and Lu Chen, PhD, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple University.
Filed Under: Research