Advisor:  Melissa L. Kemp

Abstract:

Doxorubicin is a well known chemotherapeutic agent used in the treatment of a variety of cancers. Previous research has identified most of the components that comprise the doxorubicin bioactivation network; however, adaptation of the network to changes in doxorubicin treatment or to patient-specific changes in network components is much less understood. We present a model of doxorubicin bioactivation in leukemia cells that illustrates the dual-nature of doxorubicin treatment, and highlights pharmacological intervention strategies for promoting or impeding doxorubicin-induced cytotoxicity in cancer cells.