Multiple myeloma (MM) is a deadly cancer of plasma cells, and despite current therapies that reduce tumor burden, most patients with MM have life-threatening relapses. Understanding the biology of normal and malignant plasma cells could reveal potential novel therapeutic targets. Normal and malignant plasma cells produce large amounts of antibodies, and they have both adapted to survive the stress of high antibody production.

Dr. Shannon McGettigan’s project will investigate a previously unrecognized survival mechanism for these cells: the sensing of a molecule called ATP. ATP is released by nearby bone marrow cells, and she hypothesizes that plasma cells sense ATP through a special opening, or channel, in the cell surface. Using in vitro cell cultures and in vivo mouse models, Dr. McGettigan will inhibit the ability of plasma cells to sense ATP and assess how it impacts them and their neighboring bone marrow cells. “These studies will provide critical insights into the biology of plasma cells and MM and reveal potential novel therapeutic targets for MM,” she says. Dr. McGettigan’s scientific training began in microbiology as an undergraduate student, where she investigated emerging antibiotic resistance genes. She then developed and optimized CAR T cells as an immunotherapy for blood and solid cancers, building a patented diagnostic platform to pre-screen patients for likely responders to therapy. Dr. McGettigan’s graduate research focused on B-cell and skin immunology, investigating factors controlling cutaneous IgM secreting cells. Now as a postdoctoral fellow, she is studying plasma cell survival and MM, integrating molecular immunology with translational approaches to identify new therapeutic targets.

Sponsor

David Allman, PhD, and Dan Vog, MD, MSCEl

Research Focus

Multiple myeloma, plasma cells, stress response

Projects and Grants

Targeting purinergic receptors in normal plasma cells and multiple myeloma