Lymphoma is a blood cancer that originates in the lymphatic system and develops in lymphocytes. Lymphoma is the most common blood cancer and overall is the 6th most common cancer in Australia. It can be classified as Hodgkin's lymphoma or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma depending on cell morphology. While there are treatments available for lymphoma there are problems when patients develop drug resistance. Drug resistance can occur by prolonged exposure to a particular drug or by growth in hypoxic conditions, and many current treatments are ineffective once this occurs.
Therefore, new treatments are required and this project assesses the antioxidant systems in both Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma as possible therapeutic targets. The thioredoxin system has been shown to be significantly upregulated in lymphomas. A protein called DJ-1, originally identified in Parkinson’s disease, has now been shown to have antioxidant functions and to have cross-talk with the thioredoxin and glutathione antioxidant systems. We have shown, using quantitative RT-PCR, that mRNA levels of DJ-1 are increased in both Hodgkin's lymphoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cell lines compared to normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The role of DJ- I in these lymphoma cell lines will be examined using siRNA knockdown and the effects on cell growth and downstream signalling pathways will be assessed.