# Bioinformatic Analysis of Next Generation Sequencing Data from Cancer Cells

> **NIH NIH R50** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $173,980

## Abstract

Project Summary
This proposal supports the bioinformatics needs of two NCI funded Outstanding Investigators at the
Northwestern University Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. One project, with Dr. Ali
Shilatifard, examines the role of mutations in histone modifiers such as MLL in the progression of cancer. A
recent discovery on the stabilization of mutant proteins relative to wildtype gives insight into one cause of
disease and a new target for cancer therapy. Another project examines the role of transcription elongation
factors in cancer development. These proteins are often fused to MLL in leukemia, but it is not clear why
general transcriptional regulators lead to specific types of cancer. A third project examines another chromatin
protein, histone H3, and how mutation of H3K27 to methionine can lead to specific types of pediatric brain
cancer. Here too, new understanding of the molecular mechanism of the disease has led to a new line of
therapy for this currently incurable and devastating childhood cancer. A fourth project, in collaboration with Dr.
Marcus Peter, examines another fundamental cellular process, DISE, and how it might be exploited to trigger
cell death specifically in cancer cells. The common thread in all of these projects is the need for careful,
biologically motivated computational analysis to make sense of next generation sequencing data that is
essential in examining the function of cancer cells, both before and after perturbation. Dr. Bartom will provide
this analysis, and her expertise in both biology and computation will allow cancer biologists to extract more
insight from their data, and to maintain a high standard of scientific rigor and reproducibility.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10229409
- **Project number:** 5R50CA221848-05
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Elizabeth Thomas Bartom
- **Activity code:** R50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $173,980
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-19 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10229409

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10229409, Bioinformatic Analysis of Next Generation Sequencing Data from Cancer Cells (5R50CA221848-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10229409. Licensed CC0.

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