PhD Student, Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences
University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine
Osteosarcoma is a highly aggressive bone cancer that affects both dogs and humans. Osteosarcoma is very challenging to treat due to how resistant it is to chemotherapy and how quickly it can spread (metastasize). To find better ways to fight this cancer, we need to understand what helps these cancer cells grow and spread; One possible clue lies in gangliosides, a special type of lipid (fat molecule) found on the outside of the cell membrane.
Gangliosides play a key role in how cells grow, communicate, and move, which are also processes that can help cancer cells thrive and spread. Currently, we still don’t know exactly where these lipids are located within these bone tumors or how their presence relates to what’s happening inside the cancer cells – all we know is that they are highly expressed in osteosarcoma cells as compared to the surrounding normal, healthy cells.
My research hopes to answer this complex question. By combining advanced technologies that allow us to see where gangliosides are located in the tumor, and which genes are turned on in those areas, I hope to uncover how these lipids influence the cancer cell’s behavior and what causes their over-production. This work could lead to better understanding of genetic regulation of the osteosarcoma cells and potentially more targeted treatments for both dogs and people.
Gabriela Hery is a second-year PhD student at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine. Her research focuses on where these unique lipids, called gangliosides, are spatially distributed in osteosarcoma and what genes regulate their production. Her goal is to understand what causes changes in these lipids and how that influences how osteosarcoma grows and spreads. Since this bone cancer in dogs is almost identical to those in humans, this research can also help to understand and find better treatments in people, too!
Core Standards
SC.912.L.16.8 Explain the relationship between mutation, cell cycle, and uncontrolled cell growth potentially resulting in cancer.
SC.912.L.16.10 Evaluate the impact of biotechnology on the individual, society and the environment, including medical and ethical issues
SC.912.N.4.2 Weigh the merits of alternative strategies for solving a specific societal problem by comparing a number of different costs and benefits, such as human, economic, and environmental.
SC.912.L.14.52 Explain the basic functions of the human immune system, including specific and nonspecific immune response, vaccines, and antibiotics.
SC.912.L.16.5 Explain the basic processes of transcription and translation, and how they result in the expression of genes.
SC.912.L.16.3 Describe the basic process of DNA replication and how it relates to the transmission and conservation of the genetic information
SC.912.L.14.12 Describe the anatomy and histology of bone tissue.
