Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)

CHOP has received our two myoepithelial carcinoma (MEC) cell lines and researchers are applying long-read RNA sequencing to deeply characterize MEC transcripts. CHOP has recently developed a computational tool called IRIS-long (Isoform peptides from RNA dysregulation for Immunotherapy target Screening – by long-read RNA-seq), which characterizes cancer transcriptome variation and discovers immunotherapy targets using long-read RNA sequencing data.

By combining CHOP’s tool with our MEC lines, they aim to map the transcriptome of MEC in far greater detail than ever before — revealing alternative splicing events, novel transcripts, and expression differences that short-read sequencing might miss. This high-resolution data could help us connect genetic variation with cellular behavior and identify new therapeutic targets.

In collaboration with CHOP, cureMEC will make the resulting datasets available to the research community, extending the reach and impact of this work. Together, the CHOP effort brings MEC research into the frontier of transcriptomic technology and enhances our understanding of this rare cancer.