HEИндивидуална стипендия2023–2025

ETICAN · ECM and TFEB interplay: from building multidisciplinary devices to unravelling the missing link in cancer

„Хоризонт Европа“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2023-11-01 → 2025-10-31
Финансиране от ЕС: 195 915 €
Участници: 1
Схема: HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Взаимодействието между физическите свойства на тъканите и протеина TFEB при рака на пикочния мехур се анализира чрез синтетични материали. Това помага за разбирането на това как туморът се адаптира и реагира на терапията, което подпомага прецизната онкология.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

ECM and TFEB interplay: from building multidisciplinary devices to unravelling the missing link in cancer

Cancer progression is not driven solely by genetic mutations within tumor cells, but also by the physical and biochemical properties of their surrounding microenvironment, known as the extracellular matrix (ECM). Over the past decades, increasing evidence has shown that changes in ECM stiffness, composition, and architecture actively shape tumor growth, invasion, and resistance to therapy. In bladder cancer, one of the most expensive cancers to manage in Europe due to its high recurrence rate, the role of ECM mechanics remains insufficiently understood. The ETICAN project addresses this gap by investigating how ECM mechanics and chemistry regulate tumor behavior through their interaction with transcription factor EB (TFEB), an emerging oncogenic regulator of lysosomal function and lipid metabolism. By reconstructing the bladder cancer ECM using tunable, synthetic biomaterials, ETICAN recreates physiologically relevant tumor microenvironments that allow systematic study of tumor–ECM interactions. The overall objective of ETICAN is to elucidate the reciprocal crosstalk between ECM properties and TFEB signaling and to determine how this interaction drives tumor adaptation, invasiveness, and therapy response. Ultimately, the project aims to generate knowledge and tools that support precision oncology by enabling patient-specific tumor modeling and improved therapeutic targeting.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

Over the last 30 years, researchers have shown that tumor cells not only need to accumulate oncogenic genetic alterations, but also rely on permissive cues from a surrounding extracellular matrix (ECM) for malignant progression. However, reconstructing the tumor niche in vitro has not been easy due to the complexity of its intertwined physico- biochemical properties and the limitation of the available biomimetic scaffolds. Furthermore, preclinical studies have mainly focused on druggable targets at the intracellular signaling level and overlooked the implication of the ECM. To overcome these hurdles, we will unravel the ECM mechano-chemical contribution in tumorigenesis and its continuum interaction with tumor cells in 3 steps. First, we will deconstruct bladder cancer ECM through in-depth analysis of its physical and biochemical features. This will provide us a blueprint to follow, in order to build a tailored microenvironment for bladder tumoroids. Then, we will reassemble ECM properties in a new generation of tunable materials, functionalized with ECM proteins secreted by bladder cancer cells in vitro. Using our developed tumoroid model, we will finally chart the reciprocal crosstalk between extracellular cues and transcription factor EB (TFEB), an emerging oncogene and regulator of tumor microenvironment. By bridging the gap between ECM and TFEB regulation, we anticipate to catalyse the success of cancer prevention and therapy leveraging new druggable targets at the level of the reciprocal feedback between the evolving ECM and tumor cells.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

INSTITUT GUSTAVE ROUSSY · VillejuifКоординаторФранция