# DNA-Directed Micropatterning of Cells to Investigate Prostate Cancer Dormancy in the Bone Marrow

> **NIH NIH F32** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY · 2020 · $65,310

## Abstract

While approximately 50% of prostate cancer patients present with disseminated tumor cells, only 1% of those
disseminated tumor cells will ultimately progress to macrometastatic lesions, with the rest either dying or
remaining dormant. The complex interactions between the multiple cell types in the bone-marrow
microenvironment both influence and are influenced by tumor cells present in the hematopoietic stem cell niche.
What cues the bone-marrow microenvironment provides such that DTCs either maintain their dormancy or
proceed to proliferate are of paramount importance to the study of prostate cancer progression and therapeutic
resistance. The study of why tumor cells enter into, or escape from, dormancy, however, are limited by
shortcomings in current in vivo and in vitro systems. The application of DNA-directed single cell patterning to
pattern six cell types in a fabricated in vitro bone-marrow niche will enable me to study the role of the
microenvironment in tumor progression at a common secondary location in prostate cancer. This intricate system
will allow me to specifically interrogate the contributions of different phenotypes to disease outcomes through
the following specific aims: 1) To fabricate and validate an in vitro bone-marrow niche. 2) To incorporate and
monitor cells from established prostate cancer cell lines in a highly interactive in vitro bone-marrow
microenvironment. 3) To investigate the relationship between cancer stem cell and epithelial-mesenchymal
transition phenotypes and tumor cell dormancy.
 Following optimization of cell culture and patterning parameters, I will use high-throughput photolithography-
based DNA-directed cell patterning to incorporate osteoblasts, osteoclasts, osteocytes, vascular cells,
macrophages, and tumor cells into arrays of microenvironments for the systematic study of key parameters. In
particular, I will study the influence of different cell types on both the bulk tumor cell population and tumor cells
pre-sorted for specific stemness and/or epithelial-mesenchymal transition phenotypes. These studies will
initialize a new tool in the study of tumor cell dormancy as well as take the first steps toward its application to the
systematic and replicable study of factors affecting tumor cells in the microenvironment. This specifically
addresses a problem in prostate cancer, but can ultimately be generalized to other cancers that localize to the
bone marrow or other tumor microenvironments.
 The work in this proposal will be conducted at the University of California, Berkeley, under the sponsorship
of Professor Lydia Sohn. In addition to conducting the aforementioned research, I will pursue responsible
conduct in research and professional development training over the course of the fellowship tenure. I will also
communicate my results and gain professional experience by attending conferences that highlight research in
the fields of cancer biology and the biomedical sciences. My postdoctoral experience ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9985587
- **Project number:** 5F32CA243354-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
- **Principal Investigator:** Molly Kozminsky
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $65,310
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-01 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9985587

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9985587, DNA-Directed Micropatterning of Cells to Investigate Prostate Cancer Dormancy in the Bone Marrow (5F32CA243354-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9985587. Licensed CC0.

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