Project Grant F30CA310665

The National Cancer Institute awarded the Trustees of Indiana University $113,244 on December 1, 2026, under the Cancer Research Manpower program (CFDA 93.398) to conduct research on regulators of differentiation failure in NF2-mutant neural progenitors as a mechanism underlying spinal ependymoma formation.

The recipient will perform a CRISPR kinase and transcription factor knockout screen in a neuroepithelial stem cell model with induced NF2 mutations to identify regulatory components responsible for failed neural progenitor differentiation, then test rescue of differentiation using TEAD inhibitors VT104 and MGH-CP1 in these cells. Spinal ependymoma is a rare central nervous system tumor associated with NF2 mutations that occurs in nearly half of patients with NF2-related schwannomatosis; current standard of care is surgical resection, which carries elevated risk for these patients, and no effective medical options exist. Preliminary transcriptomic data suggests small clusters of neural progenitors exist within patient spinal ependymomas, and the research team hypothesizes that differentiation failure in NF2-mutant neural progenitor cells is mediated through dysregulated developmental pathways susceptible to TEAD inhibition.

Work is performed in Indianapolis, Indiana. The period of performance runs from December 1, 2026, through August 31, 2030.