Dr. Anna Hagenkort

High-throughput Screening and Drug Profiling

During my master-thesis I worked on the role of dUTPase in 5-FU cancer treatment. To identify the working mechanism I used siRNA as well as inhibitors to analyze cell survival, cell cycle alteration, and DNA damage. Key techniques I learned were siRNA transfection, viability and clonogenic survival assays, the alkylating unwinding technique, the fiber technique, FACS analysis and immunostaining.

I worked for four months in the laboratory of Brad Wouters (Toronto University), under the supervision of Marianne Koritzinsky. The research group is one of the leading groups in the research of the tumour microenvironment, especially Hypoxia. My research focused on XBP-1 splicing in cervix cancer. I deepened my knowledge about tumour environment, especially ER-stress and the unfolded protein response, as well as about DNA-damage response, cell cycle checkpoints and radiation.