Gujral Lab
Principal Investigator: Taran Singh Gujral
Institution: Fred Hutch Cancer Center (Seattle, WA)
Primary Subfield: Molecular & Cell Bio
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
PROJECT SUMMARY Fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC) is a childhood liver cancer with a high case mortality rate. Patients with FLC typically present with advanced disease, as there are no early warning signs. Thus, a cure by surgical resection is rarely attainable. In addition, FLCs are notoriously resistant to chemotherapies and other targeted therapies currently approved for liver cancer, leading to a 5-year survival of just 30%. New therapeutic strategies that counteract the molecular signaling events that go awry in FLC are urgently needed. FLC is characterized by a fusion event resulting in a novel chimeric protein that joins the N-terminal domain of DNAJ with the catalytic subunit of protein kinase A (PKAc) in hepatocytes. However, the underlying mechanism by which DNAJ-PKAc drives FLC tumor growth remains unknown. This project's overall goal is to apply an unbiased systems-based approach to identify and validate druggable signaling networks that regulate the growth of DNAJ-PKAc- expressing FLC cells and uncover a mechanistic understanding of how DNAJ-PKAc chimeric protein drives FLC. The paucity of preclinical models such as immortalized primary human FLC cell lines has precluded…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R01CA273081-04: Targeting PLK1 signaling for the treatment of fibrolamellar carcinoma (2026)
- 5R01CA273081-03: Targeting PLK1 signaling for the treatment of fibrolamellar carcinoma (2025)
- 5R01CA273081-02: Targeting PLK1 signaling for the treatment of fibrolamellar carcinoma (2024)
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