Andrea Tentner

Ph.D. Advisors

Prof. Michael B. Yaffe (M.I.T., Depts. of Biology and Biological Engineering) and Prof. Douglas A. Lauffenburger (M.I.T., Depts. of Biological Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Biology)

Education

Ph.D. candidate, Biological Engineering, MIT, current

S.M., Biological Engineering, MIT, 2006

B.A., Biological Sciences, University of Chicago, 2003

CDP research

The goal of this work is to develop a comprehensive understanding of how molecular-level signaling events are integrated within human cells responding to DNA-double strand breaks (DSB), to result in an appropriate cellular-level response to this damaging lesion.

As a model system, doxorubicin-induced DSB-response and doxorubicin-induced DSB-response in the context of the inflammatory cytokine, TNFα, is being examined. The approach is to take quantitative, dynamic measurements of key molecular events spanning relevant pathways, including both specific DSB-response and canonical signal-integration pathways governing stress, death and survival, in parallel with measurements of relevant cellular outcomes.

Using preliminary data acquired to this point, we are exploring the use of data-driven modeling approaches such as partial least squares regression analysis (PLSR), in the construction of a mathematical model relating intracellular signaling and the cellular response to DNA double-strand breaks (DSB). The utility of such a model will be two-fold, allowing for accurate prediction of cellular response to DSB, and serving as a rich resource for pathway-mechanism hypothesis generation.