Eldaa

Eldaa
Revere High School
Revere, MA

Mentor: 
Nisha Saif 
Epigenomics | Griffin Lab 
 

In her BSSP application, Eldaa let us know that BSSP would allow her to freely explore how scientists vividly conduct research. Her drive to understand the complexities of science led to her placement within the Epigenomics group. Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) is a new cancer therapy that promotes the immune system to kill cancer cells. The immune system can attack cancer cells when it recognizes they are making neoantigens, normal proteins that have accumulated mutations due to changes in DNA. However, some cancer types such as breast and pancreatic are capable of evading the immune system and are resistant to treatment. Around 8% of human DNA is composed of endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), which are segments of viral DNA integrated into our genome and vertically transmitted. SETDB1, a histone methyltransferase, normally silences these endogenous retroviral genes via H3K9 methylation protein to make the DNA inaccessible to transcription machinery. The Griffin Lab’s previous work showed that knocking out SETDB1 sensitizes some cancer cell lines to ICB. They hypothesize that knocking out SETDB1 to increase ERV expression could increase tumor responsiveness to ICB by functionally increasing the expression of neoantigens. Eldaa set out to design and clone guide RNAs targeting SETDB1 that would be used to perform CRISPR base editing in human cell lines. By doing so, they'd be able to generate a mammalian cell culture system to conduct structure-function studies and better understand the mechanism of SETDB1 sensitization. By the end of BSSP, Eldaa had learned so much more than molecular biology research. She says, “BSSP taught me to grow accustomed to asking questions, enhance my knowledge on how it really is like being a scientist, and boosted my excitement of meeting new people and developing bonds that are so special. It also taught me how to communicate the complex scientific mechanisms my research involved to anybody who might be interested.”