Mirtrons in breast cancer: understanding small RNA roles in tumor biology
Official title: Dissecting the role of mirtrons in human cancers
Funded at Texas Tech University · NIH-11323062 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A breast cancer focused project to understand how mirtrons, a type of small RNA, behave and influence cancer progression.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Texas Tech University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Lubbock, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2024 |
| Project end | March 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $150,413 |
| NIH project number | 5R16GM153648-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11323062 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Patients with breast cancer or patients providing breast cancer tissue samples and cells for lab studies.
✕Less likely to help
Healthy individuals or patients with cancers unrelated to mirtron biology may not directly benefit.
What this research studies
This grant explores how mirtrons are formed and stabilized in breast cancer cells, including how enzymes like XRN1/2 affect mirtron levels and how cancer-associated mirtrons may carry guanine-rich structures. Researchers will study mirtron behavior in breast cancer cell lines and patient-derived samples to see how these RNAs could contribute to tumor growth and immune interactions. The work aims to connect mirtron biology with cancer progression and exosome-associated RNA in a way that could reveal new targets for therapy. The findings could pave the way for future translational studies in human breast cancer.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could identify new RNA-based mechanisms in breast cancer that might become targets for therapies or biomarkers.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research suggests mirtrons can be linked to cancers, but detailed roles in human breast cancer are still being defined and this project addresses that gap.
Where this research is happening
-
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Chen, Ethan — Texas Tech University
- Study coordinator: Chen, Ethan
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.