Titre: ‘‘Utilizing imaging mass spectrometry to study microbial communities and ovarian cancer’’
Endroit : Pavillon Roger-Gaudry, salle S-142
Heure : 11:00 AM
Hôte : Prof. Pierre Chaurand
Résumé :
Imaging mass spectrometry (IMS) can detect molecular signatures of interest in a sample as well as their spatial distributions across the entire sample. This power technique has been adapted to tissues, spheroids, and microbial communities and can be adapted to study systems that have spatial requirements in their natural setting. For example, high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSC) is responsible for a leading number of female-related cancer deaths due to the extreme difficulty in detecting the disease prior to tumor development. A p53 signature initiates the cascade toward HGSC and is called a serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC). During ovulation, the ovary swells and the single epithelial layer break apart, exposing the collagen in the ovary interior. The swollen ovary and the fallopian tube come into very close contact with one another and a poorly understood exchange occurs that induces the implantation of the ectopic STIC cell into the collagenic interior of the ovary. Therefore, in collaboration with Joanna Burdette’s lab, we have optimized an experimental design using imaging mass spectrometry that is capable of capturing the exchangeable chemistry during the early stages of HSGC initiation. We also employ IMS to explore the chemical exchange in the development of microbial communities associated with cheese rinds.
