Dissertation Defense: Youngrok Park
Candidate: Youngrok Park
Major: Tumor Biology
Advisor: Todd A. Waldman, M.D, Ph.D.
Title: The Role of STAG2 in Bladder Cancer: Clinical Implications as a Biomarker and Potential Mechanisms of Tumorigenesis
STAG2 is a component of the cohesin complex, which is most well-known to regulate sister chromatid cohesion and 3D genome organization. STAG2 is also one of the twelve most frequently mutated genes in cancer; in bladder cancer, STAG2 is amongst the most frequently mutated genes, along with FGFR3 and TP53. In addition, STAG2 mutations are most common in the early stages of bladder cancer, suggesting that mutations in the tumor suppressor gene STAG2 may be the initiating event. Despite the significance of STAG2 mutations in bladder cancer, the mechanism(s) by which STAG2 mutations cause cancer remains virtually completely unknown. This dissertation demonstrates both the clinical effectiveness of STAG2 mutations as a prognostic biomarker and present potential tumor suppressive mechanisms of STAG2 in bladder cancer.