Jung Kuczura
Pronouns: he/him
Research Mentor(s): Yu Lei
Co-Presenter:
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Rogel Cancer Center / Dentistry
Presentation Date: April 20
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: Session 5 – 3:40pm – 4:30 pm
Room: League Ballroom
Authors: Jung Kuczura, Hulya Taner, Sashider Rajesh, Luke Broses, Yu Leo Lei
Presenter: 55
Abstract
Cancers typically activate both innate and adaptive immune responses in a healthy host, but even so, head and neck cancers (HNC) continue to evade immune sensing and response. While current cancer treatments focus on amplifying the effects of T-cells in order to initiate a more aggressive immune response, certain characteristics of HNC tumors, and their processes, augment their immunosuppressive nature. Previously, Lei Lab has shown the correlation between HNC and the amplification of the oncogene SOX2, which inhibits the STING pathway that is necessary to produce IFN-1, an anti-cancer protein that promotes inflammation and recruits other immune cells to mount an attack on the tumor. My lab now seeks to determine how immune cells are altered during cancer progression, as well as whether ILR1 and the relationship between SOX2 and IL1 production have an impact on these immune cell changes. To do so, we have induced cancer in K5CreSOX2 and K5CreSOX2IL1R -/- mice and use IHC and HE staining to determine immune cell infiltration and cancer burden. I have assisted in staining mouse buccal mucosal tissue from K5CreSOX2 mice versus K5Cre-IL1R mice using InForm software and Mantra scope in search of apoptotic CD4+ T-cells. I also work with the quantification of the cancer area in the cells to determine statistical significance between the control mice and the transgenic mouse line using Fiji/ImageJ. With this data, we hope to establish a connection between SOX2, IL1, and HNC progression. The lab’s objective to further understand how HNC tumors manipulate their microenvironments to suppress host immune response is crucial to the development of more effective immunotherapies and an overall better quality of life for those suffering from HNC.
Biomedical Sciences
