How cancer cells make and recycle purines
Decoding the metabolic routes of purine nucleotides in cancer - Resubmission - 1
Researchers are tracing how breast tumors and other cancers create and reuse purine building blocks to find new treatment targets.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Ut Southwestern Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Dallas, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11239000 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you take part, researchers will trace how breast tumors and other cancers get the purine building blocks for DNA and RNA through two routes: making them from scratch (de novo) or recycling pieces (salvage). They will use safe stable isotope tracers and metabolomics on living tumors and tumor samples to follow where nucleotides come from. The team will measure how much each pathway contributes and how cancer-driving genes like RAS and MYC change that balance. The results aim to point to weak spots in cancer metabolism that new drugs could target.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People with breast cancer, especially those willing to donate tumor tissue or enroll in metabolic tracer or biospecimen studies, would be most relevant.
Not a fit: People without cancer or whose tumors do not rely on altered purine metabolism are unlikely to get direct benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could reveal new metabolic targets that lead to treatments slowing or stopping tumor growth.
How similar studies have performed: Older drugs like methotrexate and other purine antimetabolites show that targeting purine pathways can work, but using isotope tracing to map pathway use in living tumors is a newer approach.
Where this research is happening
Dallas, United States
- Ut Southwestern Medical Center — Dallas, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Hoxhaj, Gerta N/a — Ut Southwestern Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Hoxhaj, Gerta N/a
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.