AKC Canine Health Foundation Grant No: 632

Research Objective:

MicroRNAs and Canine Lymphoma

Principal Investigator:

William C Kisseberth, DVM, PhD
Ohio State University

Abstract:

Lymphoma is one of the most common cancers in the dog. Current methods of classifying lymphoma neither explain nor predict its variable clinical behavior. Much of the progress in diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of lymphoma and other cancers in people has been the result of advances in ¿genomics.¿ Recently the canine genome has been sequenced, providing the opportunity to apply new genomic approaches to better understand and treat cancer in the dog. MicroRNAs (miRNA) are small non-protein coding molecules that have been implicated in humans as having an important role in cancer and a variety of other diseases. In this study, we will identify miRNAs using bioinformatic methods. We will then use miRNA microarrays to analyze normal canine tissues and canine lymphoma biopsies. These results (miRNA expression profiles) will be correlated with histologic diagnosis and clinical parameters. The goals of this study are to identify canine miRNAs and their normal patterns of expression and to determine if specific histologic subtypes of lymphoma are characterized by unique miRNA expression profiles, if specific miRNAs have prognostic significance, and to identify potential targets for future investigation and therapies. This study will also generate new tools for future miRNA investigation in the dog.