# Notch signaling in liposarcoma

> **NIH NIH R01** · PURDUE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $354,563

## Abstract

Abstract
Human liposarcoma (LPS) is a deadly and the most common soft tissue cancer whose cellular origin and
molecular regulation are unclear. Using a novel transgenic mouse model, we made a seminal discovery in our
unpublished preliminary results that aberrant activation Notch signaling in mature adipocytes drives their
dedifferentiation and formation of LPS. Notch signaling is an evolutionarily conserved signal transduction
cascade that plays an important role in development, cell-cell communication and stem cell differentiation.
Aberrant Notch activity has been implicated in several types of cancers including leukemia, breast cancer and
osteosarcoma but its role in LPS has not been reported. While our series of preliminary studies have
established the adipocyte origin and pathogenic process of LPS in the mouse model, several imperative
questions stood out to be addressed in the proposed work. First, we will distinguish the relative role of Notch
activity and metabolic dysfunction – an accompanying feature of the LPS transgenic mouse model – in the
development and pathogenesis of LPS. Second, we will investigate the role of Notch signaling in human
liposarcomas. Third, we will dissect and molecular mechanisms underlying Notch-driven LPS based on our
preliminary genomics and lipidomics results, and futher explore therapeutic interventions to treat the murine
and human LPS in xenograft mouse models. Results from the proposed work will for the first time uncover the
oncogenic function of Notch signaling in adipocytes and adipose tissue, one of the most important metabolic
organs in the body. In addition, our transgenic mouse model will represent a unique tool to study the etiology,
pathogenesis and treatment of human LPS.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9922668
- **Project number:** 5R01CA212609-04
- **Recipient organization:** PURDUE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Shihuan Kuang
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $354,563
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-06-13 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9922668

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9922668, Notch signaling in liposarcoma (5R01CA212609-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9922668. Licensed CC0.

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