Funding outcome

Each year about 3,900 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer and 1,900 women die of this disease in Canada. Most ovarian cancers are diagnosed at late stages when the disease has spread to the abdominal cavity, and current treatment regimens are ineffective against advanced ovarian cancers. In order to develop novel and more effective treatments, we need to better understand the molecular basis of ovarian cancer and identify the proteins that are critical for formation and/or progression of ovarian cancer. These proteins are potential therapeutic targets for ovarian cancer treatment. In this proposal, we will determine the role of a protein called NSUN2 in ovarian cancer. Our initial analysis and preliminary experiments show that high expression of NSUN2 is associated with poor survival of ovarian cancer patients and when NSUN2 expression is decreased, ovarian cancer cells become less aggressive, suggesting a role for NSUN2 in promoting formation and/or progression of ovarian cancer. NSUN2 is an enzyme that modifies RNAs and thereby controls the content and abundance of proteins in the cell. In this proposal, we will determine at the molecular level how NSUN2 controls the behavior of ovarian cancer cells and if targeting NSUN2 can be a potential treatment option in ovarian cancer. Findings from this study could lead to the discovery of novel therapeutic targets to treat ovarian cancer, which has great potential to improve clinical outcomes of ovarian cancer patients.