Stories

September 9, 2021

Natural Killer T cell lymphoma (NKTL) is a highly aggressive form of cancer more frequently occurring in Asia than other parts of the world with very poor treatment outcomes in the advanced stages. Currently, there is still no clear consensus on primary therapy, and chemoradiation or L-Asparaginase therapy remain mainstay treatments. Hence, novel and effective treatment strategies are needed. Daratumumab is a monoclonal antibody that is utilised in cancer treatment to specifically target the CD38 protein on malignant cells.

September 8, 2021

Congratulations to Ms Sinan Xiong for receiving the IMS Young Investigator Award at the 18th International Myeloma Workshop (IMW 2021). The workshop is conducted by the International Myeloma Society (IMS), which aims to promote research and education to improve prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment surrounding multiple myeloma and related disorders.

September 3, 2021

Congratulations to the graduates of the PhD Graduate Program in Cancer Biology! On 27th August 2021, CSI Singapore organized a virtual Graduation Celebration to honour the Classes of 2020 and 2021. While COVID-19 has certainly been disruptive, our graduates have demonstrated adaptability and resilience amid the uncertainties of the pandemic. The virtual celebration was also attended by supervisors of the graduating batches, where they paid tribute to the amazing achievements of our graduates after years of hard work and commitment.

August 31, 2021

This study characterizes CD38 as an effective target for a subset of NKTL patients and the utilization of the CD38:CIP ratio as a more robust identifier for patient stratification and personalisation of treatment. Furthermore, elucidation of factors which sensitize the complement-mediated response provides an alternative approach toward optimizing therapeutic efficacy of daratumumab where CDC remains a known limiting factor.

August 31, 2021

Chromatin interactions play important roles in regulating gene expression. However, the availability of genome-wide chromatin interaction data is limited. We develop a computational method, chromatin interaction neural network (ChINN), to predict chromatin interactions between open chromatin regions using only DNA sequences.

August 31, 2021

The study of RNA modifications in large clinical cohorts can reveal relationships between the epitranscriptome and human diseases, although this is especially challenging. We developed ModTect (https://github.com/ktan8/ModTect), a statistical framework to identify RNA modifications de novo by standard RNA-sequencing with deletion and mis-incorporation signals.

August 6, 2021

We are pleased to announce that CSI Singapore has been conferred the Commendation Award for the NUS Safety & Health Awards (NUSSHA) 2020! Presented by the Office of Safety, Health & Environment (OSHE), the NUSSHA programme recognizes NUS Faculties, Departments, and Research Centres / Research Institutes which have implemented effective department safety and health management system (DSHMS) that would help reduce accidents and incidents in workplaces.

August 4, 2021

Hosted by the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS) and co-organized by the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI), the 8th NCIS Annual Research Meeting (NCAM) concluded its hybrid meeting last Saturday. Held from 30 - 31 July, this year's meeting served as an excellent platform for cancer physicians and researchers in Singapore to interact and forge future collaborations.

August 4, 2021

Our bodies constantly encounter oxidants from our diet and metabolism. Oxidative stress is thought to speed up ageing, and increase the risk of diseases like cancer or dementia. However, there have been few clues to how oxidative stress can cause these problems, or how anti-oxidants may work to combat them. Now, Professor Ashok Venkitaraman’s laboratory has discovered a way in which oxidative stress damages mitochondria – the powerhouses that supply energy to our cells.

July 6, 2021

CIMP (CpG island methylator phenotype) is an epigenetic molecular subtype, observed in multiple malignancies and associated with the epigenetic silencing of tumor suppressors. Currently, for most cancers including gastric cancer (GC), mechanisms underlying CIMP remain poorly understood. In this study, we sought to discover molecular contributors to CIMP in GC.

July 6, 2021

Adult erythropoiesis entails a series of well-coordinated events that produce mature red blood cells. One of such events is the mitochondria clearance that occurs cell-autonomously via autophagy-dependent mechanisms. Interestingly, recent studies have shown mitochondria transfer activities between various cell types. In the context of erythropoiesis, macrophages are known to interact closely with the early stages of erythroblasts to provide a specialized niche, termed erythroblastic islands (EBI).

July 6, 2021

NSD2 is the primary oncogenic driver in t(4;14) multiple myeloma. Using SILAC-based mass spectrometry, we demonstrate a novel role of NSD2 in chromatin remodeling through its interaction with the SWI/SNF ATPase subunit SMARCA2. SMARCA2 was primarily expressed in t(4;14) myeloma cells, and its interaction with NSD2 was noncanonical and independent of the SWI/SNF complex.

June 17, 2021

Gene transcription is controlled largely by transcription factors that bind to enhancers, which are regions of the DNA that loop over to genes to activate them. While silencers have been hypothesized to work in a similar manner albeit to silence gene regulation, the understanding of gene repression mechanism remains elusive. In this study, researchers from the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) have made inroads into identifying silencers, particularly looping silencers, and understanding their mechanisms of function.

June 10, 2021

Congratulations to CSI Deputy Director and Senior Principal Investigator, Prof. Chng Wee Joo, on being conferred the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine Graduate Mentor of the Year (GRAMAY) 2021! Presented annually, the GRAMAY award honors and celebrates faculty staff in recognition of their excellence in graduate supervision, intellectual and professional development as well as career development of their graduate students.

June 10, 2021

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) represent a vast repertoire of potential targets for new drugs against human diseases. But not all PPIs are suitable as drug targets, and many hundreds of thousands of PPIs occur in human cells. As such, identifying the right PPI target for the development of next-generation drugs is oftentimes akin to looking for a needle in a haystack. Ashok Venkitaraman’s laboratory has developed a novel approach to PPI target discovery, termed Protein-interference or Protein-i, whereby a library of biologically derived, short, stable peptides is used to hunt for ligands that can disrupt therapeutically important and potentially druggable PPIs.

June 4, 2021

WILMETTE, Ill., June 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Monopar Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: MNPR), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company primarily focused on developing proprietary therapeutics designed to extend life or improve the quality of life for cancer patients, today announced it has entered into a collaboration agreement with the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) to evaluate the activity of MNPR-202 and related analogs in multiple types of cancer.

June 3, 2021

Despite advancements in cancer screening and diagnostics, a significant number of cancers are still diagnosed at a late stage with poor prognosis. Hence, the discovery of reliable and accurate methods to diagnose cancer early would be of great help in reducing cancer mortality. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are phospholipid vesicles found in many biofluids and are released by almost all types of cells. In this review, we present an analysis and evaluation of the current techniques of EV isolation and characterization, as well as discuss the potential EV biomarkers for specific types of cancer.

June 3, 2021

Dysregulated adenosine-to-inosine (A-to-I) RNA editing is implicated in various cancers. However, no available RNA editing inhibitors have so far been developed to inhibit cancer-associated RNA editing events. Here we decipher the RNA secondary structure of antizyme inhibitor 1 (AZIN1), one of the best-studied A-to-I editing targets in cancer, by locating its editing site complementary sequence (ECS) at the 3'end of exon 12.

June 3, 2021

Molecular profiling of the most aggressive brain tumor glioblastoma (GBM) on the basis of gene expression, DNA methylation, and genomic variations advances both cancer research and clinical diagnosis. The enhancer architectures and regulatory circuitries governing tumor-intrinsic transcriptional diversity and subtype identity are still elusive. Here, by mapping H3K27ac deposition, we analyze the active regulatory landscapes across 95 GBM biopsies, 12 normal brain tissues, and 38 cell line counterparts.

May 20, 2021

Inherited faults (‘mutations’) in the breast cancer gene, BRCA2, can lead to cancers of the breast, ovary or other organs. BRCA2 codes for a protein containing 3,418 building blocks (called ‘amino acids’) in human cells. Surprisingly, certain BRCA2 mutations that cause cancer affect just a single building-block out of over three thousand. Ashok Venkitaraman’s laboratory […]