Drosophila tumor stem cell model and uses thereof
OwnerNorbert Perrimon, Michele Marksteininventors
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Abstract
The present invention provides a transgenic Drosophila tumor stem cell model and uses thereof. Also provided is a method to selectively inhibit cancer stem cells in a mammal having refractory intestinal cancer or a relapse of intestinal cancer.
Claims20
A transgenic Drosophila comprising a plurality of expression cassettes, which plurality comprises at least four of the following expression cassettes:
- a first expression cassette having a promoter operably linked to an open reading frame for a heterologous transcription factor;
- a second expression cassette having a transcriptional regulatory element comprising a nucleotide sequence that binds the transcription factor and a promoter operably linked to an oncogene;
- a third expression cassette having a transcriptional regulatory element comprising a nucleotide sequence that binds the transcription factor and a promoter operably linked to a first marker gene that encodes an optically detectable gene product;
- a fourth expression cassette having a promoter operably linked to an open reading frame encoding a gene product that regulates the heterologous transcription factor;
- and a fifth expression cassette having a transcriptional regulatory element comprising a nucleotide sequence that binds the transcription factor and a promoter operably linked to a second marker gene that encodes an optically detectable gene product.
A method to selectively inhibit cancer stem cells in a mammal having refractory intestinal cancer or a relapse of intestinal cancer, comprising selecting a compound that alters the activity of intestinal tumor stem cells but not wild-type stem cells;
- and administering to the mammal an effective amount of the compound.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.