The Botta Laboratory is broadly dedicated to understanding the mechanisms of Gastrointestinal Cancer growth and metastasis. Using pancreatic cancer as a model, we develop small proteins (peptides) to hijack tumor immune and metabolic processes for drug development.
Our current cancer-drug development programs achor on:
(1) Hijacking nutrient pathways for pancreatic cancer drugs
(2) Developing peptides that reverse Pancreatic cancer immune suppression.
(3) Applying stem cell regenerative medicine technology to unlock cancer growth programs.
We implement the newest genetic techniques to map Pancreatic Cancer metabolism and immune cell regulatory pathways. Our single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) protocols are capable of characterizing single cells on an individual basis from patient tumor samples.
We use 3D in vitro and in vivo genetically engineered mouse models to target cancer with peptide delivery of therapeutics.
We have unlocked novel peptides capable of destroying suppressive cells and thereby activating anti-tumor responses.
Using sophisticated single cell sequencing techniques, we deconstruct patients' tumors, cell by cell, to uncover weaknesses to exploit.