Damon Runyon Researchers

Genome rearrangements have been widely observed in human cancers. Recent whole-genome sequencing data has identified chromothripsis, an event that introduces massive genome rearrangements in only one or a few chromosomes through catastrophic shattering and random reattachment, as one of the most frequent genome rearrangements. Chromothripsis has been associated with poor clinical outcomes in multiple cancers, but the shattering mechanisms that induce chromosome fragmentation remain uncharacterized. Dr. Wu [Marion Abbe Fellow] aims to determine the role of cytoplasmic nucleases (enzymes that cleave DNA) in chromosome shattering and genome rearrangement, which will contribute to our understanding of chromothripsis in all cancers. She will extend this project to a mouse model of glioma to determine the effects of candidate nucleases on cancer progression. Dr. Wu received her PhD and BS from Peking University, Beijing.