Tristan Kenney

PhD Candidate

Dysregulation of the intrinsically disordered MYC oncoprotein is present in a majority of human cancers, making it a key target for anti-cancer therapeutics. Despite the large interest in targeting this protein, however, the disordered nature of the protein has made studying this protein incredibly difficult.

In collaboration with the Penn Lab at UHN, I am focused on MYC structural biology. Specifically, I am interested in the protein-protein interactions that MYC makes within cells. I use X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, and other biophysical assays to characterize both MYC and its interacting proteins at a molecular level so that we may better understand MYC function. Our goals are to use this information to aid in the discovery and design of novel anti-MYC therapeutics. My current projects are:

• • Structurally characterizing the MYC-TFIIF complex.
• • Assessing and validating new MYC interactors.

Publications

Wei Y, Redel C, Ahlner A, Lemak A, Johansson-Åkhe I, Houliston S, Kenney TMG, Tamachi A, Morad V, Duan S, Andrews DW, Wallner B, Sunnerhagen M, Arrowsmith CH, Penn LZ. The MYC oncoprotein directly interacts with its chromatin cofactor PNUTS to recruit PP1 phosphatase. (2022) Nucleic Acids Res 50(6): 3505-3522.

Lourenco C, Resetca D, Redel C, Lin P, MacDonald AS, Ciaccio R, Kenney TMG, Wei Y, Andrews DW, Sunnerhagen M, Arrowsmith CH, Raught B, Penn LZ. MYC protein interactors in gene transcription and cancer. (2021) Nat Rev Cancer 21(9): 579-591.

Resetca D, MacDonald AS, Kenney TMG, Wei Y, Arrowsmith CH, Raught B, Penn LZ. Identifying and Validating MYC:Protein Interactors in Pursuit of Novel Anti-MYC Therapies. (2021) Methods Mol Biol 2318: 45-67.