Hung Ho Xuang - ESR10

Nationality: Vietnamese

Main Host Institution: University of Regensburg, Germany

Academic Background: In 2011, Hung received the Swiss Federal Fellowship to complete his Master degree in Biochemistry from the Department of Biology at ETH Zurich, Switzerland.  During this time, under supervision of Professor Ari Helenius, he focused on the molecular mechanisms of influenza virus entry into mammalian cells.

After the Master study, he did 6-months internship at Free University in Berlin, Germany supported by ‘Virus Entry’ Networks of the Marie Curie Program FP7-People-ITN-2008. His work focused on the molecular mechanism of influenza virus egress from the mamalian cells. In 2009, he obtained a Bachelor degree in Biochemistry from Hanoi University of Science, Vietnam.

Project title: Isolation and biochemical characterization of non-coding RNPs

Project background: Low-dose metronomic (LDM) chemotherapy has shown promising activity in many clinical studies involving various tumor types. Using orthotopic mouse model for colorectal cancer, it was reported that LDM significantly prolongs survival and reduces metastasis. Despite successful translation into clinical use, little is known about the molecular basis of LDM, especially the role of non-coding RNAs, including long non-coding RNAs and microRNAs, during LDM therapy.

Project Aim: The goal of this project is to identify and characterize non-coding RNAs in primary tumors and metastases during LDM therapy and therapy escape. Using our state-of-the-art biochemical infrastructure, we will isolate lncRNPs from prefractionated cell lysates and characterize long non-coding RNA partners by mass spectrometry. Further characterization of these non-coding RNAs will not only give us new insights into the molecular effects of LDM topotecan but also provide us potential non-coding RNA therapeutic prevention in the future.

Expected outcome:

  1. Development of Northern blotting protocol for detection of long non-coding RNAs during cancer progression and metastasis and in different fractionated conditions.
  2. Development of biochemical RNP isolation protocols for identification of RNP components.
  3. Functional characterization of long non-coding RNAs and key components of lncRNPs using xenograft mouse model.