51ÁÔÆæ

Professor Shama Mirza received the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment grant in collaboration with Dr. Mona Al-Gizawiy, an assistant professor of biophysics at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Glioblastoma (GBM) is an extremely aggressive cancer for which there are limited treatment options. Despite recent advances in therapy, the prognosis remains dismal and patient survival is short. After standard therapy, the recurrent tumors become resistant to therapy and render them extremely difficult to treat. The team of from 51ÁÔÆæ (Chemistry & Biochemistry Department) and from the Medical College of Wisconsin (Biophysics Department) are investigating if gallium, an iron mimetic, can be used to target cancer iron metabolism.

Image of Gallium in the style of the Periodic Table of Elements

Iron plays a vital role in pathobiology of many cancers including brain cancer. In this proposal, a high-throughput characterization of iron regulating proteins will be carried out using mass spectrometry-based proteomics analyzing rat plasma from glioblastoma xenografts. The aim is to answer pressing questions regarding response to therapy and differentiating short-term vs long-term survivors. This work is supported by the grant, affiliated with the Medical College of Wisconsin.