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A systems biology approach to tackle PARP-inhibitors resistance and identify novel therapeutic targets to overcome it

Project description

Insight into mechanisms inhibiting inhibition could enhance cancer outcomes

DNA damage occurs continuously as a result of numerous internal and environmental factors. Left unrepaired, this results in mutations within the genomic material, affecting cell or organism survival. PARP1 is an enzyme essential to initiating DNA repair. It is also overexpressed in many cancers (including breast, ovarian and lung cancers), where it likely helps cancer cells survive chemotherapy and radiation therapy. This makes PARP1 inhibitors (PARPi) of interest in the battle against cancer. PARPi have been shown to suppress tumour growth and metastasis but development of resistance to them inhibits efficacy. The EU-funded PARPinhibit project plans to identify proteins modulating PARP1 activity and their roles in resistance to PARP1 inhibitors, with the goal of reducing resistance and enhancing outcomes.

Objective

Inhibition of PARP1 in cancer therapy is a recently adopted strategy to treat cancers where DNA repair is defective, such as breast and ovarian cancer caused by mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2. In addition, PARP1 inhibitors (PARPi) can be useful even in the absence of BRCA mutations, likely due to pathogenic variants or epigenetic inactivation of other DNA repair related genes. However, development of resistance to PARPi is a significant challenge.
To address this challenge, I propose to identify proteins that modulate PARP1 activity that could be used as additional therapeutic targets. The strength of this project is based on a systems biology overall strategy exploiting multiple independent datasets to identify candidates protein interactors, followed by a rigorous biochemical and genetic approach to characterize this interaction.
Analysis of identified proteins and their role in PARPi resistance will be achieved at three main levels: a) in-silico and molecular studies of the interaction; b) influence on PARP1 activity and role in PARPi resistance after CRISPR-cas9 editing; c) expression levels in breast and ovarian cancer tissues.
Results from this project will illuminate mechanisms of PARPi resistance and generate potential targets for therapy in breast and ovarian cancer. These results will contribute to the reduction in mortality due to breast and ovarian cancer and they will give an answer to this world-wide diffuse challenge.

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Topic(s)

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MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2018

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Coordinator

CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 251 002,56
Address
PIAZZALE ALDO MORO 7
00185 Roma
Italy

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Region
Centro (IT) Lazio Roma
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost

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.

€ 251 002,56

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