Mapping the minor spliceosome snRNA landscape in cancer
Building a comprehensive atlas of canonical minor spliceosomal snRNAs and their variants across prostate and breast cancer, with a focus on tumor progression, aggressive disease, and therapy resistance.
Defining the functional role of minor spliceosomal snRNA variants
Characterizing how individual snRNA variants regulate minor intron splicing, cancer cell fitness, stress responses, and DNA damage repair, and identifying variants that contribute to cancer-specific minor spliceosome activity.
Targeting the minor spliceosome as a novel cancer vulnerability
Developing and testing strategies to therapeutically inhibit minor spliceosome components, particularly U6atac, including targeted delivery approaches and in vivo validation in prostate and breast cancer models.
Extracellular vesicle snRNAs as mediators and liquid biomarkers of cancer
Investigating the release and transfer of minor spliceosomal snRNAs through extracellular vesicles and determining whether EV-associated snRNAs in blood and urine can serve as minimally invasive biomarkers of tumor progression and treatment response.
