# Fasting Protects Small Intestinal Stem Cells from Lethal DNA Damage: Mechanistic Insight and Preclinical Translation

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR · 2020 · $463,830

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Short-term fasting has been shown to provide host protective effects from the toxicity associated with high-
dose chemotherapy. We found a novel protective effect conferred by short-term fasting when treating mice with
high dose chemotherapy. We demonstrated that fasting mice for 24 h confers protection to small intestinal (SI)
stem cells from high-dose etoposide. We also showed increased survival in mice that have been fasted for 24
h prior to treatment with toxic doses of radiation. We will test the hypothesis that the metabolic changes
associated with fasting lead to epigenetic changes in SI stem cells, which in turn, leads to expression of genes
whose protein products protect SI stem cells from lethal DNA damage. This hypothesis will be tested in fasted
mice exposed to high-dose etoposide and mice exposed to high-dose radiation. The clinical applications of our
findings will be evaluated in a mouse model of pancreatic cancer.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9868814
- **Project number:** 5R01CA207236-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TX MD ANDERSON CAN CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** HELEN M PIWNICA-WORMS
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $463,830
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-03-14 → 2022-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9868814

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9868814, Fasting Protects Small Intestinal Stem Cells from Lethal DNA Damage: Mechanistic Insight and Preclinical Translation (5R01CA207236-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9868814. Licensed CC0.

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