ALDHs in cancer stem cells and as targets for drug discovery

ALDH1A1 is a well-established marker of cancer stem cells; it also plays a role in the maintenance of these cells. The goal of this project is to investigate how ALDHs contribute to tumor biology. These studies involve metabolomic and RNA-seq analysis in both human cell lines and human tumors.. Another project involves the development of small molecules inhibitors of ALDH1A1 that will enhance the efficacy of chemotherapy and radiotherapy of cancer. In this multi-investigator project, agents developed by collaborating researchers will be tested alone or in addition to current chemotherapy or radiation in cell lines and patient derived xenografts.