Jessica Lang
Credentials: PhD
Position title: Assistant Professor
Email: jessica.lang@wisc.edu
Phone: (608) 262-8601
Address:
Room 2766 WIMR
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
1111 Highland Avenue
Madison, WI 53705
- Office
- 2766 WIMR
- Lab
- Jessica Lang Lab
Education
PhD University of Wisconsin – Madison
Research Summary
Our work on translational ovarian cancer research focus on how mutations and alterations to epigenetic regulator genes leads to therapeutic vulnerabilities.
Research Detail
Mutations to epigenetic regulators is a common event in cancer, poised to reveal novel therapeutic strategies to make a difference for patient who do not yet have an identified targeted therapy option. Our work stems from findings of frequent mutation to SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex subunits in cancer, and particularly in several subtypes of ovarian cancer. This includes ubiquitous biallelic inactivation of SMARCA4 in small cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type (SCCOHT), loss of ARID1A in half of ovarian clear cell carcinomas, and loss of various subunits in 25% of high grade serous ovarian carcinomas. 20% of all human cancers bear SWI/SNF alteration, and these mutations lead to widespread alterations to enhancer regulation. We are particularly interested in distinct themes of dysregulation of traditional enhancers vs. super-enhancers, a class of very large enhancers that frequently increase the expression of oncogenes. We integrate profiling of cell line and tumor epigenetic marks and transcriptomics with functional genetic approaches, such as ECCITE-seq, to better understand the role of SWI/SNF loss and epigenetic dysfunction in response to standard-of-care and novel therapeutics.