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Jose Gomez
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E-mail: gome0079@umn.edu
Thesis Advisor: Vitaly
Polunovsky
Year entered: 2005
Degrees received:
B.A., Biochemistry, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR,
2004
Honors and Awards
- American Association for Cancer Research (AARC) Minority
Scholar in Cancer Research Award, April 2009
Thesis research:
My thesis project will consist of In vitro and In vivo experiments
that will complement the general objective of identifying
the genes that, in collaboration with the overexpression of
eukaryotic inintiation factor 4E (eIF 4-E), contribute
to the development of cancer cells in early stages. For purpose
of this project, the interest of this project is to study
the contribution that ErbB2 and eIF-4E for formation of premalignant
cells. On the one hand, in vitro experiments would consist
on transfection of vectors containing ErbB2 oncogene in Human
Mamary Epithelial Cells (HMEC) which are immortalized by the
expression of human Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase (hTERT)
and maintain stable expression of Green Fluorescence (GFP)-4E.
Results of these combinations of genes will be seen by clonogenic
assays, soft agar and matrigel cultures of these cells. On
the other hand, as a long-term goal I will work in the development
of transgenic mice that contain eIF-4E, that selectively express
it only in mouse mammary epithelial cells and would be induced
for expression during pregnancy. These mice will be crossed
with transgenic mice with ErbB2 giving transgenic mice that
contain both genes where contributions of both genes for development
of cancer will be detected by formation of premalignant cells
in the mammary gland. |
