A CPI award was granted to Dr. Kotsopoulos to identify agents that regulate BRCA1 protein levels in cells. The ultimate goal of the project was to test the hypothesis that increasing the amount of normal BRCA1 in BRCA1 mutation carriers can prevent cancer.
In a first step towards achieving this goal, she and her collaborators generated a high-throughput assay that could be used to screen for drugs, small molecules, or natural compounds that alter BRCA1 levels. Following the screening of more than 6,000 compounds using this assay, they identified several agents that can alter BRCA1 protein levels in cells. They discovered that some of these compounds can sensitize breast cancer cells to the PARP inhibitor Olaparib and may therefore be of future clinical utility. These results were published in iScience in 2024. Click the link below to read the full article.