The goal of the NextGen Precision Health & Ellis Fischel Cancer Center Science Seminar is to highlight transdisciplinary precision research taking place in the cancer field, provide opportunities for collaboration among researchers to build their own research efforts and promote clinical/researcher activity across the University of Missouri System and our partners.

For questions about this event, please reach out to Veronica Lemme.

The miR-345 as Novel Molecular Target for Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

Speaker: Satyanarayana Rachagani, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Veterinary Medicine & Surgery, University of Missouri-Columbia

Date: Nov. 16, 2023, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Location: Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health Building, Atkins Family Seminar Room

*Zoom option available

Register Here

Description

Pancreatic cancer is a lethal malignancy with a five-year survival rate of 10.8%. The poor prognosis of pancreatic cancer is due to early invasion and metastasis to local and distant organs. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is vital for the progression of a tumor cell to metastasize to distant vital organs. Gemcitabine, in combination with Abraxane and FOLFIRINOX, are currently available therapies for metastatic pancreatic cancer, but they yielded limited patient survival often associated with toxicity. Hence, there is an urgent need to identify the molecular target to combat metastatic pancreatic cancer and improve patient survival. Recently, miRNA therapies have shown promising results as a single miRNA is predicted to target more than 200 genes involved in multiple cancer signaling pathways. Dr. Rachagani's study aims to understand the role of miR-345-5p in regulating cell proliferation and EMT in pancreatic cancer.

About the Speaker

Dr. Rachagani earned his Ph.D. in animal genetics and breeding at the National Dairy Research Institute in Karnal, India. He was a postdoctoral fellow from 2006-2008 at Iowa State University and from 2008-2011 served as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Dr. Rachagani’s research is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the pancreatic cancer progression and metastasis and developing miRNA-based target therapies for pancreatic cancer.