Research
MICROENVIRONMENTAL SENSATION AND REGULATION IN CANCER
How do cells interpret, influence, and respond to their extracellular environment in cancer? Our major, inter-connected, research questions are:
1) How are adhesion and growth factor receptor signalling networks integrated in tumour and stromal cells?
2) How are adhesion and growth factor receptor dynamics spatially and temporally co-ordinated?
3) How does the co-ordination of adhesion and growth factor receptor signalling and function regulate cancer progression?
- i) Tumour cell invasion and metastasis
- ii) Tumour-stromal interactions
- iii) The tumour microenvironment
Lay Abstract
Metastasis, the process by which a tumour spreads, is the most devastating feature of cancer. A variety of processes contribute to metastasis, including the ability of tumour cells to crawl and invade through tissue and the formation of a blood supply to feed the tumour and provide an escape route for the cells.These processes are directly regulated by molecules, on the cell surface, which control the way cells sense and respond to their surrounding environment: adhesion and growth factor receptors. These receptors therefore are attractive targets for cancer therapy. However, drugs that target them have had very variable results in the clinic. One reason for this is that these molecules don't just work in isolation but actually communicate with one-another to control when they each are stimulated. So, for example, a drug targeting one of the adhesion receptors can actually stimulate a growth factor receptor and make cancer worse.To develop new strategies to combat cancer, it is essential that we know exactly how these different receptors talk to one-another. We are using a range of advanced proteomics and imaging techniques to identify exactly how the receptors communicate with each other and how this controls tumour invasion.Ultimately, this knowledge will help us identify new drug targets and treatment strategies
Research grants
Bench Fees for Sharifa Y I KH I Alyetama 201110076
THE CULTURAL OFFICE OF THE EMBASSY OF THE STATE OF KUWAIT (UK)
March 2024 - February 2028
Bench Fees for Firman Hasan (201496368)
MINISTRY OF FINANCE (INDONESIA)
February 2023 - January 2027
Sensing tension: Bidirectional feedback mechanisms controlling breast cancer invasion
NORTH WEST CANCER RESEARCH INCORPORATING CLATTERBRIDGE CANCER RESEARCH (UK)
April 2020 - May 2024
Lonza 4D-Nucleofector Advanced Platform with X-Unit, Y-Unit and 96-Well Shuttle modules
NORTH WEST CANCER RESEARCH INCORPORATING CLATTERBRIDGE CANCER RESEARCH (UK)
March 2019 - September 2019
Translating discovery science: DUBs that regulate centrosome clustering, an Achilles' heel of cancer
BREAST CANCER NOW (UK)
October 2019 - March 2024
Wellcome Trust Four-Year PhD Studentship Programme
WELLCOME TRUST (UK)
October 2017 - March 2022
Force in Migration: The Mechanism of Nuclear Force Coupling driven invasive cell migration
MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
February 2019 - September 2022
Forcing angiogenesis: Transcriptional control by integrin-dependent mechanotransduction during angiogenesis
NORTH WEST CANCER RESEARCH INCORPORATING CLATTERBRIDGE CANCER RESEARCH (UK)
August 2017 - September 2022
Regulation of pro-invasive receptor crosstalk mechanisms in HER2-positive breast cancer
BREAST CANCER NOW (UK)
March 2016 - March 2019
Optimising NK cell cytotoxicity and infiltration of the tumour microenvironment for successful adoptive immunotherapy in cancer
NORTH WEST CANCER RESEARCH INCORPORATING CLATTERBRIDGE CANCER RESEARCH (UK)
September 2015 - September 2018
Wellcome Trust four year PhD studentship with the Cellular and Molecular Physiology Programme
WELLCOME TRUST (UK)
October 2013 - September 2017
Analysis of heterodimer-specific integrin signalling networks and functions
NORTH WEST CANCER RESEARCH INCORPORATING CLATTERBRIDGE CANCER RESEARCH (UK)
July 2014 - July 2017