Description du projet
Aperçu du rôle de la niche de cellules souches cancéreuses
Les cellules souches spécifiques d’un tissu sont des cellules indifférenciées qui ont la capacité de s’auto-renouveler et de générer plusieurs types de cellules dans le tissu. Le maintien et la fonction des cellules souches dépendent de la niche de cellules souches, un emplacement spécialisé dans les tissus. Le projet IntratumoralNiche, financé par l’UE, repose sur l’hypothèse qu’une niche similaire existe dans les tumeurs et favorise les cellules souches cancéreuses, la croissance tumorale et la formation de métastases. Les chercheurs ont pour objectif de disséquer les signaux de la niche intratumorale en utilisant des cultures organoïdes dérivées de patients et des modèles animaux de cancer colorectal. Les résultats dévoileront le rôle des différents composants de la niche dans la progression tumorale, identifiant potentiellement de nouvelles cibles thérapeutiques.
Objectif
Purpose: Cells in a tumor are highly heterogeneous. The role and consequence of having multiple cell types within a cancer is mostly centered towards the function of cancer stem cells (CSCs) since they are the driving forces of tumor growth. However, the exact signaling cues that support CSC function remain to be understood. For instance, what are the roles of immediate descendant tumor cells in relation to CSC support? Do colorectal tumors make their own niche?
Preliminary data: To study communication between different cell types (heterocellular signaling) in human colorectal cancers (CRCs), my lab developed movieSTAR technology to mark CSCs in patient-derived CRC organoids (PDOs) for high-resolution live imaging of their dynamics and behavior. Although niche factor dependency decreases along the adenoma-carcinoma transition, we identified a strong interdependency between CSCs and other tumor cells in colorectal PDOs of malignant nature.
Hypothesis: We hypothesize a continuous existence of an intratumoral stem cell niche that remains essential for tumor growth and metastasis formation. Which types of heterocellular signaling support CSC function, especially at malignant stages, is unknown.
Approach: This project aims to define heterocellular signaling between CSCs and intratumoral niche cells. Therefore, I) we will combine our expertise in human organoid technology for in-depth characterization of the nature of heterocellular communication within the intratumoral niche, II) high-resolution live imaging of PDOs to interrogate heterogeneity of signaling activities at cellular resolution and in real-time, as well as III) in vivo mouse models for validation and further studies of essential intratumoral signaling pathways.
Innovation: Our integrative use of novel approaches will provide comprehensive insight into intratumoral niche function during tumorigenesis, establishing novel technologies for future cancer research and new concepts to improve cancer therapy.
Champ scientifique
Programme(s)
Thème(s)
Régime de financement
ERC-STG - Starting GrantInstitution d’accueil
3584 CX Utrecht
Pays-Bas