Special Project Grant Awarded to John Prensner

This grant enables the purchase a Beckman-Coulter Optima MAX-XP Tabletop Ultracentrifuge. It is required for the optimized protocol for ribosome profiling for DIPG samples.

Most DIPGs are triggered by a specific genetic event that impacts the way brain cells regulate DNA activity. In effect, DIPG cells begin to awaken parts of the genome that are generally kept quiescent. Some of these genomic regions may produce retroviral elements. Under normal circumstances, these retroviral elements can be toxic when highly active, but DIPG cells appear to utilize, or at least tolerate, the presence of retroviral elements. Understanding which of these genomic elements are specifically activated in DIPG, and which produce proteins, may provide unique insights into how DIPG cells function, leading to opportunities for novel therapeutic approaches in this deadly childhood brain cancer.