Award
NIH Reporter #11244136
Understanding Treg-mediated modulation of microglia in breast cancer brain metastasis
Recipient
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE
Award Amount
$46,540.00
Ceiling
$46,540.00
Awarded
July 16, 2025
Identifier
11244136
This award funds research to understand how regulatory T cells modulate microglia in breast cancer brain metastasis, aiming to develop novel therapeutic strategies targeting this interaction to improve treatment outcomes for brain metastases.
Description
Brain metastasis is a fatal disease with limited therapeutic options that impacts the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans diagnosed with metastatic cancer. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are immune cells that play a significant role in the progression of this disease, yet the exact mechanisms by which they contribute are unknown with no means to target them. This proposal will use single-cell RNA sequencing and functional studies to understand how Tregs suppress microglia, a key brain-resident player in the tumor response, and will evaluate the efficacy of targeting a potential interaction between these two cells as a novel therapeutic for brain metastasis to improve patient outcomes.