Ramesh Ganju
Ohio State University, OH·Microbiology & Immunology
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive form of breast cancer, and it kills African American women at rates 65% higher than white women. Why their tumors are more aggressive and more likely to spread is unclear.
- Fields
Microbiology & Immunology
Medicine & Clinical Research
Biology
- Topics
triple-negative breast cancer
racial disparities
health disparities
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jun 2029
What they work on
- Determine how S100A7 signaling controls genes that respond to interferon-gamma, especially PD-L1 and Fas, in African American TNBC cells and in engineered mice that overproduce mouse S100a7.
- Define how S100A7 shapes macrophage plasticity (these immune cells' ability to switch roles), T cell function and Fas-mediated immune evasion in African American TNBC, using S100a7 knockout and overproducing mice.
- Evaluate an S100A7-neutralizing antibody combined with chemotherapy or immunotherapy in patient-derived organoids and patient-derived xenograft mouse models of African American TNBC.
- Assess whether S100A7 and its downstream signaling molecules predict outcomes in African American TNBC patients, and how they relate to the immune cells present in tumors.
More about the research
This project asks whether the tumor microenvironment, the mix of immune and other cells around a tumor, becomes immune-suppressing in African American TNBC and lets the cancer escape immune attack. It also asks whether a protein called S100A7 drives this.
Why it matters
African American women with triple-negative breast cancer face much higher death rates than white women. This work could establish S100A7 and its downstream signaling molecules as treatment targets and prognostic biomarkers. It will also test whether an S100A7-blocking antibody can strengthen chemotherapy or immunotherapy, which could inform immune-based therapies designed for this high-risk population.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Sanchita Bhatnagar
University of California-Davis, CA·Medicine & Clinical Research
Screen TRIM37 gene variants already identified in African American women for anoikis resistance, the ability of cancer cells to survive after detaching, and compare how risk and reference alleles of TRIM37 behave biologically.
Yaguang Xi
University of Georgia, GA·Pharmacology
Determine how the oncogenic microRNA miR-10b and its target gene NR4A3 contribute to the experimental compound LG007's activity against triple-negative breast cancer.
Shiaw-Yih Lin
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, TX·Medicine & Clinical Research
Test whether scarce DNA building blocks (dNTPs) cause RNA to be misinserted into TNBC genomes, and whether blocking RNase H2 leaves these errors in place, causing lethal replication stress. Also identify how tumors resist the inhibitor.
The school
Ohio State University: 71 labs on PI Pages, $1.6B a year on research, 882 research doctorates a year.
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