Exploring Sirtuins for Bowel Cancer Treatment
Sirtuins and Cancer
This project explores how specific proteins called sirtuins influence bowel cancer growth and its resistance to chemotherapy.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Harvard Medical School NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11086741 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Bowel cancer is a serious disease, and we urgently need to understand how it grows and resists treatment. This project focuses on how bowel cancer cells change their metabolism, or how they process nutrients, to help them grow and survive, even against chemotherapy. We are particularly interested in a protein called SIRT4, which appears to be missing in bowel cancer and changes how these cells build new components. We believe this metabolic change helps cancer cells multiply and become resistant to current treatments. By understanding these mechanisms, we hope to discover new ways to fight bowel cancer.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: This foundational research aims to benefit patients with bowel cancer, especially those whose tumors show resistance to chemotherapy.
Not a fit: Patients will not receive direct, immediate benefit from participating in this foundational laboratory research.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to new treatment strategies for bowel cancer, particularly for patients whose cancer is resistant to existing chemotherapy.
How similar studies have performed: While sirtuins are known to be important in metabolism, this specific link between SIRT4 loss, metabolic reprogramming, and chemotherapy resistance in bowel cancer is a novel area of focus.
Where this research is happening
Boston, United States
- Harvard Medical School — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Haigis, Marcia — Harvard Medical School
- Study coordinator: Haigis, Marcia
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.