Using C. elegans genetics to better understand how the chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin acts to kill cancer cells

Cancer treatment largely depends on chemotherapeutic drugs that inflict damage to the genetic material the DNA to kill cells. Cisplatin is one of the most important chemotherapeutic drugs and is widely used in the clinic. We aim to better understand how cisplatin damages DNA. To do so, we want to use whole genome next generation sequencing combined with survival assays to uncover redundant DNA repair mechanisms that mend DNA damage caused by cisplatin. We will use C. elegans, as a model system to do this, as basic mechanisms of cisplatin action are conserved across species, and the nematode (worm) C. elegans is a very simple model organism. We aim to further our understanding how cisplatin leads to DNA damage in normal and DNA repair deficient lines. This is part of a larger project funded by World Wide Cancer Research to systematically analyze the effect of cisplatin in C. elegans and mammalian cells. We are confident to suggest that our work will allow better tailoring cisplatin treatment in patients.