APELIN THERAPY · Apelin inhibition as an anti-cancer therapy
7РП — „Хора“ (Действия „Мария Кюри“)
- Период
- 2014-02-01 → 2016-01-31
- Финансиране от ЕС
- 179 137 €
- Участници
- 1
- Схема
- MC-IEF
Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.
Накратко на български
Протеинът апелин стимулира изграждането на нови кръвоносни съдове, които хранят туморите. Разбирането на този процес помага за търсенето на нови методи за спиране на раковия растеж.
Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.
Резултати накратко
Apelin inhibition as an anti-cancer therapy
Cancer is the second leading cause of mortality in Europe. One of the many strategies that is currently being explored by cancer researchers is to investigate what happens as a tumour grows, in the hope of finding new ways to slow or to stop its growth. Increasing the blood supply is one of the phenomena that happen as a tumour grows, as it will be needed to provide the tumour with the nutrients it requires. Establishing this supply is a key stage in the transition from a small to a rapidly-growing tumour, and it is described as one of the hallmarks of cancer. Angiogenesis, the growth of blood vessels, is characterized by existing vessels sprouting and growing outwards, and is caused by several proteins that are produced in the body. Tumours are able to use this usually healthy process to support their growth. Therefore, understanding more about how angiogenesis is initiated by tumours, and how it could be inhibited, is a potential way in which new strategies to target tumours could be found. Apelin is a peptide that plays several different roles in the in the human body. Among them, apelin plays a role in the vascular system, the brain and bones and it also has cardiac and digestive roles. Importantly, apelin is also frequently found highly produced in tumours, where, among other proteins, it initiates angiogenesis. The current project focused on understanding the role of apelin in initiating angiogenesis in tumours and exploring potential new therapies for cancer. To do so, model organisms, in which apelin was knocked out, were used. These organisms were studied to see how they differed from wild-type organisms. Several techniques were used in a multi-disciplinary approach to study the role of apelin in tumours; among them, histological techniques, non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and transcriptome analysis. These techniques provided new insights into the functional role of apelin in angiogenesis and its usefulness as a cancer target. In addition, the work in the lab was complimented by studies of patients. Taken together, this project provided substantial new insights into the role of apelin in cancer. New information about the role of apelin in tumour angiogenesis was acquired. The expected final results are a clear picture of a previously unknown role of apelin that provides a clear indication of a therapeutic approach that can be applied to patients with cancer. It is likely that a new form of treatment will emerge that can be given to complement existing therapies.
Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз
Цел на проекта
The spread of cancer is a major cause of mortality and morbidity throughout Europe and beyond. As the growth of solid tumours is dependent on the formation of a neovascular supply, inhibition of tumour-induced neoangiogenesis represents an actively pursued strategy to treat human cancers. Current anti-angiogenic therapies are, however, hampered by the onset of resistance through upregulation of additional angiogenesis factors. Therefore, the identification and study of these alternative neo-angiogenesis regulators as therapeutic targets is currently of key interest. Apelin is a potent angiogenic factor frequently found upregulated in cancer. However, the in vivo pathophysiological relevance of apelin function in cancer has not been addressed so far.In this proposal, we intend to study apelin inhibition and function in spontaneous cancer models. We will take a multidisciplinary and entirely in vivo approach that will combine the power of mouse genetics with state-of-the-art analysis techniques. We will evaluate in parallel the function of apelin in cancer and the highly promising effectiveness of apelin inhibition as a therapeutic cancer target either alone or in a combined anti-angiogenesis therapy.The relevance of de novo formation of lymphatic vessels in the progression of cancer has only recently been recognized. Using state-of-the-art techniques we will extend our studies by not only assessing the in vivo role of apelin in angiogenesis but also its involvement in lymphangiogenesis. Taken together, we believe that this project will shed new light on the role and function of a novel factor that regulates vessel formation in cancer and validate its potential as therapeutic target. If successful, our in vivo multidisciplinary study will open a new avenue for the treatment of resistant cancer cases and for the development of combinatorial anti-cancer therapies with higher efficiency and a reduced incidence of resistance formation.
Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).
Участници
- INSTITUT FUER MOLEKULARE BIOTECHNOLOGIE GMBH · WienКоординаторАвстрия
Връзки
Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз