Objective
Colorectal cancer (CRC) kills up to 170,000 Europeans annually. Although survival rates have improved gradually, new treatment strategies are certainly needed. Hyper-activation of WNT/Beta-catenin signalling occurs in up 93% of CRC cases and MYC appears to be an obligate effector of Beta-Catenin in the gut, making MYC an attractive target for therapeutic intervention. MYC, however, is difficult to target directly, owing to its lack of enzymatic activity or obviously druggable structural features.
An alternative strategy is to target the biological consequences of MYC deregulation. The Murphy lab recently showed that MYC overexpressing tumour cells in culture exhibit an ectopic dependency on a little-known kinase called ARK5/NUAK1: whereas cells lacking MYC overexpression are able to withstand NUAK1 depletion or inhibition, cells with overexpressed MYC are unable to maintain energetic homeostasis in the absence of NUAK1, deplete their ATP levels, and consequently lose viability. We have therefor taken a genetic approach to examine the requirement for NUAK1 during tumour development in a genetically engineered mouse model of sporadic Beta-Catenin-driven CRC. Our preliminary results show that NUAK1 is required for CR tumour initiation and, more importantly, that NUAK1 depletion shrinks pre-existing tumours, suggesting that NUAK1 is an excellent candidate target for treatment of CRC.
Based on these exciting preliminary data, I now propose to thoroughly evaluate NUAK1 as a target for therapy in CRC and to use a combination of proteomic, phosphor-proteomic and metabolomics analysis to determine the mechanism by which NUAK1 suppression erodes tumour cell viability.
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: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug discovery
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology colorectal cancer
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics mutation
- social sciences economics and business business and management employment
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology homeostasis
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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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.
Funding Scheme
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.
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.
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2015
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
G12 8QQ Glasgow
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.