Date: Friday, 7 January 2022

Venue: Cheung Kung Hai Lecture Theatre 1, G/F, William M.W. Mong Block, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

Time: 5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

5:00 p.m.

Speaker: Mr. Yibing LIU (MPhil candidate)
Primary Supervisor: Dr. Asif JAVED
Presentation Title: Identifying prognostically relevant transcription factor activity in breast cancers
Abstract: Breast cancer is one of the leading malignancies in women worldwide, and based on genetic characteristics the breast cancer patients can be divided into five molecular subtypes. It is caused by genetic and epigenetic aberrations. In previous studies mainly gene expressions are used to study the epigenetic features of breast cancer.  In our study, we utilize the transcription factor activity to explore molecular characteristics of breast cancer across and within the subtypes. It can reflect the activity of transcription factors which regulate transcription of genes in cells. We analyze the association between transcription factor and survival information and mutation status, and find marker transcription factors which are correlated to them. Furthermore, we find their biological meaning in breast cancer by summarizing the peer-reviewed literature. Similarly, since we use the PAM50 model to classify the samples by marker genes, we validate their biological meanings by exploring recent literature.

5:30 p.m.

Speaker: Miss Zhiying LIU (PhD candidate)
Primary Supervisor: Dr. Bo GAO
Presentation Title: Planar cell polarity in mammary gland development and tumorigenesis
Abstract: Planar cell polarity (PCP) is a fundamental mechanism that conveys directional information for coordinated, uniformly polarized cellular behaviors in a group of cells. It plays critical roles in tissue morphogenesis and organogenesis of multicellular organisms. We found that core PCP protein Vangl2 is specifically expressed in mammary epithelial cells and is distributed asymmetrically. Genetic ablation of Vangl2 and its homologue Vangl1 caused significant defects in mammary gland morphogenesis. Interestingly, Vangl1 and Vangl2 are both overexpressed in mammary tumors and are associated with poor prognosis in patients with breast cancer. Our in vitro and in vivo assays demonstrated their prominent roles in promoting breast cancer metastasis. We also utilized a spontaneous breast cancer mouse model to further investigate their functions in mammary tumor progression and metastasis and our preliminary data confirmed their significance. Here, our findings revealed an important role of PCP in mammary gland development and tumorigenesis, and further mechanistic studies are needed.

ALL ARE WELCOME

Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact Miss Cynthia Cheung at 3917 9748.