IEOCCD · THE IMPACT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ONCOGENESIS ON CANCER CELL DIVISIONS
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2019-05-01 → 2021-04-30
- EU contribution
- €212,934
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
THE IMPACT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ONCOGENESIS ON CANCER CELL DIVISIONS
• What is the problem/issue being addressed? During cancer progression, cells encounter a range of complex environments. In a growing tumor, cells are exposed to soluble factors secreted by their neighbors, increased interstitial pressure, and hyplasia-induced over-crowding. The project seeks to test the hypothesis that oncogenic activation of the Ras-ERK pathway helps cancer cells proliferate despite the challenging and changing physical environments of the tumor. • Why is it important for society? Cancer metastasis depends on cancer cells being robust to changes in their environment. Previous approaches to study ERK dynamics and cancer cell division are done in traditional cell culture systems that do not recapitulate the mechanical environment of cancer cells in vivo. To understand and treat cancer, it would be better to study cell division and cancer cell signaling in environments that mimic those in tumors, which can be used to guide therapeutic approaches towards treating cancer. This is the aim of this work. • What are the overall objectives? The overall objectives of the project are: 1) How are ERK dynamics regulated during mitotic progression and what are the downstream effects? 2) How does the cancer microenvironment alter ERK dynamics and mechanism of cell division? 3) How does oncogenic activation through the Ras-ERK signaling pathway alter ERK dynamics and cell mechanics to alter the environmental sensitivity of cancer cell divisions?
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Mammalian cells must round up to divide by remodeling their adhesions and their cytoskeleton to form a stiff actin cortex. Mitotic rounding provides the space necessary to develop a mitotic spindle to undergo symmetric chromosomal segregation. If mitotic rounding is impeded by physical confinement or preventing adhesion remodeling, defects in spindle assembly and chromosomal missegregation can lead to mitotic cell death. In cancer, the cells must divide in a challenging environment which can alter the way cells divide. Preliminary data show Ras- activated epithelial cells are able to round better compared to normal cells. This adaptation could protect the dividing cell from the physical environment and allow epithelial cancer cells to divide in the confines of the tumor and distant metastatic sites. Here, we aim to identify mechanisms that allow epithelial cancer cells to divide differently from that of normal epithelial cells. Potentially, this mechanism could be a powerful target if we are able to prevent cancer cell division without interfering with normal cell division. Preliminary data suggest Ras-ERK signalling could play a role in mitotic rounding of cancer cells. In this proposal, I will 1) investigate ERK signalling dynamics during mitotic progression, how it regulates mitotic rounding and effects on the following cell cycle 2) investigate how Ras-ERK signalling and the mechanism of cell division are affected by environment using microfabricated tools and 3) initiate oncogenic activation by over-expressing receptor tyrosine kinases commonly found over-expressed in cancer or constitutive activation of Ras/Raf and measure changes in Ras-ERK signalling and cell mechanics. By establishing a link between Ras-ERK signalling and mitotic progression, I will determine how oncogenesis affects Ras-ERK signalling dynamics and cell division to allow cancer cells to divide in a wide range of environments.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON · LondonCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union