Objective
Deregulated signalling by transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) plays a critical role in tumorigenesis in humans, acting as a tumour suppressor at early stages, but as a tumour promoter at late stages. To be able to diagnose and treat human cancer, it is essential that we understand these processes at the molecular level. Recent work in the host lab has established that the E3 ubiquitin ligase, Arkadia is an essential component of the branch of the TGF-beta/Smad pathway that is mediated via activated Smad3/Smad4 complexes. The lab has shown that Arkadia functions by targeting the transcriptional repressors, SnoN and Ski for degradation by the proteasome in response to TGF-beta signalling. Loss of Arkadia results in the stabilisation of SnoN and loss of Smad3/Smad4-dependent transcription, two events that are hall marks of some human tumours. Moreover, the host lab has identified an adenocarcinoma cell line, SEG-1, that expresses a non-functional truncated Arkadia protein due to a point mutation. Consequently these cells are deficient in TGF-beta-induced SnoN degradation. Taken together, these results suggest that Arkadia might be a novel tumour suppressor. The first aim of my proposal is to elucidate the mechanism whereby Arkadia mediates TGF-beta-induced SnoN degradation. For this I will take a biochemical and structural approach and will also use siRNA sceening to identify what other components are required. I will also address what genes are regulated by Arkadia by microarray analysis. The second aim is to determine the role of Arkadia in tumorigenesis. I will focus on assessing the effect of restoring Arkadia expression in SEG-1 cells on cell growth and migration in vitro and on tumour growth and metastasis in mouse models. I will also screen for loss of Arkadia expression in human tumour cell lines and tumours to discover whether Arakdia is a novel tumour suppressor gene that is targeted in human cancer.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology prostate cancer
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics mutation
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Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-IIF-2008
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Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
E20 1JQ LONDON
United Kingdom
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