Sarah Cherkaoui
@cherkaos.bsky.social
18 followers 73 following 7 posts
Postdoc - Rabinowitz lab @Princeton
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cherkaos.bsky.social
➡️ What’s next?
Excited to share that this will likely be taken to the clinics as an early phase trial. Stay tuned!
cherkaos.bsky.social
🙏 Immense gratitude to my mentor Raphael J. Morscher, the Morscher at Kispi and our amazing collaborators at
@childrensphila.bsky.social, @princeton.edu
@ludwigcancer.bsky.social
& beyond.

This was true teamwork
cherkaos.bsky.social
🐭 In mice, this drug–diet combo dramatically extended survival.
It shows how targeting metabolic vulnerabilities can open new therapeutic paths — especially in pediatric oncology, where safer, effective options are urgently needed.
cherkaos.bsky.social
The DFMO + diet combo caused:
Deep polyamine depletion
Protein translation stalling
Induction of a pro-differentiation proteome ➡️ pushing cancer cells toward a more normal state
cherkaos.bsky.social
🥗 In our study, we found that diet can boost DFMO’s power.

By removing arginine & proline (amino acids tumors use to make polyamines) from the diet, we cut off the cancer’s food supply.
cherkaos.bsky.social
👶 Neuroblastoma is an aggressive childhood cancers.
These tumors rely on polyamines — small molecules essential for growth.

💊 DFMO, a drug that blocks polyamine synthesis, was just FDA-approved.
But cancer cells are resourceful… they find ways to keep polyamine levels high.