A study by Prof. Jiguang Wang, Padma Harilela Associate Professor of Life Science, from the Division of Life Science and Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Dr. Yiyuan Chen,Post-doctoral Fellow, and Mr Dong Song,Research Assistant from the Division of Life Science at HKUST, in collaboration with researchers at Columbia, is helping to clarify how low-grade lymphoma changes as it develops into a more aggressive tumor, which could lead to the development of new treatments.
To better understand how a protein called AID, changes the genome and transforms lymphoma, the research team tapped into a unique collection of tumor samples from patients whose follicular lymphoma transformed into a much more aggressive type called double-hit lymphoma. Using samples collected at different times during the patients' disease progression, the team was able to carry out whole genome sequencing of each tumor to track the mutations that accrued during transformation.
The genomic data revealed that transforming mutations were concentrated in noncoding, superenhancer-embedded promoter regions of many genes and altered gene expression in lymphomas in unexpected ways.
To learn more, please visit the article titled “What Makes Lymphoma Turn Lethal”, published on December 16, 2023.
