SW New Mexico News

A research team at New Mexico State University (NMSU) is collaborating with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, Washington, to investigate cancer biology. This partnership focuses on understanding how cancer cells adapt metabolically during progression. The initiative is part of the Partnership for the Advancement of Cancer Research between NMSU and Fred Hutchinson.

Soyoung Jeon, an associate professor at NMSU, stated that their project, titled "Systemic Understanding of Cellular Mechanisms of Metabolic Adaptations in Cancer," aims to study metabolic variables and identify cellular processes involved in cancer adaptation. "This project, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, aims to investigate the metabolic variables governing the initiation of adaptation and to identify the cellular processes that drive these adaptive changes," Jeon explained.

The research employs polyomic profiling and bioinformatic analyses to understand how cancer cells reprogram metabolically. It also seeks to identify health disparities linked to metabolic alterations using patient datasets. "This is to understand the biological mechanisms used by cancer cells to enact adaptive metabolic reprogramming," Jeon said.

The team includes three graduate students from diverse backgrounds: Agnes Duah and Farzaneh Karimi from applied statistics, and Stephanie Reinert from bioinformatics. Each student contributes through statistical analysis of metabolic expression data.

"Stephanie worked with me to analyze cancer data using Python algorithms. Agnes and Farzaneh work on this project as research assistants and analyze diverse types of patient cancer datasets," Jeon noted.

The three-year project started in September 2023. In its second year, it will integrate various polyomic patient datasets for statistical analysis. By its final year, the goal is to share findings with local communities and scientific societies while providing educational opportunities for underrepresented students at NMSU.

Jeon emphasized outreach efforts aimed at increasing participation among underrepresented scientists in cancer research: “Through diverse interactions with multiple organizations and underserved communities, the research team will actively disseminate our findings.”

Monthly meetings between NMSU and Fred Hutch teams facilitate knowledge transfer in cancer metabolism and statistics. Jeon remarked on this collaboration's benefits: “A particularly rewarding aspect of this research is seeing how the process of transferring knowledge strengthens both researchers' and students' capabilities."

Currently, the team has identified genes with notable protein abundance differences between tumor samples compared to normal ones. They are analyzing pathways related to these genes using machine learning approaches across different cancers such as renal cell carcinoma, breast cancer, colon cancer, and glioblastoma.

"We expect to elucidate whether genetic factors by race or ethnicity contribute alongside clinical features associated with metabolic adaptations,” Jeon mentioned regarding future directions.

For those interested in joining this endeavor or seeking more information about omics data analysis opportunities within this context at NMSU can contact Soyoung Jeon directly via email at sjeon@nmsu.edu.