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亨茨曼癌症研究所 (HCI) is committed to providing an atmosphere where ideas can be created, 培养, 和共享. 当来自不同学科的癌症研究人员一起工作时, they gain new insights from each other’s expertise into how cancer develops and how it can be targeted. Here are some of the collaborations from HCI scientists that are accelerating progress in cancer research.
Improving 黑素瘤 Prevention and Treatment through Collaborative 研究
In order to support collaborative cancer research and bring innovative treatments to patients more quickly, 国家癌症研究所成立了 卓越研究专项计划（孢子）. Each SPORE involves scientists from the lab and the clinic who work together on the same cancer type or theme.
The aspiring SPORE team at 亨茨曼癌症研究所 (HCI) at the University of Utah (U of U), 被称为USPORE, focuses on melanoma and includes investigators from U of U basic science and clinical departments who meet on a weekly basis as part of the 黑色素瘤疾病中心 在人机交互. USPORE建立在现有的优势之上, 正在进行的, U of U和HCI的合作科学和临床研究, with the long-term goal of contributing to melanoma prevention and treatment strategies.
黑色素瘤是25-30岁年轻女性癌症死亡的主要原因, 犹他州的病例最多, 人均, 在美国.
"I have dedicated my career to furthering our understanding of melanoma so therapies can be developed to improve outcomes for these women, 谁正处于人生的黄金时期,” 雪莉,我. 小岛博士他是两党联合领导人 细胞反应和调节程序 以及黑色素瘤疾病中心.
研究小组为这项研究确定了三个短期目标. The first project will evaluate the potential UV-protective effects of aspirin in mice 和人类 at high risk for melanoma. The second project will focus on developing the best dosing schedule to prevent drug resistance in melanoma patients with a mutation of the BRAF 基因. 最后, the third project will look for a way to improve melanoma immunotherapy and investigate brain metastases.
The USPORE team received funding for the first project from a Department of Defense team science award, 第三个项目由NIH R21基金和NIH R01基金资助. 该团队将在不久的将来为《大发娱乐》融资提出新的项目.
“We are confident our USPORE team will build on an outstanding history and foundation of melanoma research at the U of U and HCI, 导致新的研究见解和预防方面的改进, 预后, 黑色素瘤的治疗,霍尔曼补充道.
Merging Metabolism 研究 with Stem Cell Biology to Understand Colon Cancer
展示合作的重要性, a group of researchers at 亨茨曼癌症研究所 (HCI) studying metabolism and another exploring stem cell biology converged to create the gut stem cell team. 该团队研究了小鼠肠道干细胞的代谢, 果蝇, 和人类, with a focus on how it alters the way stem cells multiply and differentiate.
The team’s hypothesis is that stem cells in the gut are unique from other cells. The metabolism of these stem cells shares characteristics with the metabolism of gastrointestinal (GI) cancer cells.
“肠道干细胞会导致结肠癌, we believe alterations in their metabolism contributes to cancer development and progression. We aim to figure out precisely how by addressing different types of metabolism, 详细分析干细胞, discovering and analyzing the 基因s that regulate metabolism in stem cells and tumors,” 布鲁斯·埃德加博士. 他同时担任项目负责人 杰瑞德·拉特博士, 斯科特·萨默斯博士, 迪恩·坦丁博士.
四个项目负责人各自有一个不同的领域需要分析. Rutter的小组研究了碳水化合物的代谢, 萨默斯检查脂肪和脂质, 坦丁研究氨基酸, Edgar’s probes how epidermal growth factor signaling affects metabolism.
“这种合作产生了很多协同效应，”埃德加说. “三个小组是老鼠遗传学专家. 我不是. 其他人则依靠我的团队获得苍蝇方面的专业知识. Sheetal Hardikar博士，MBBS, 艾伦J. 比斯维克博士，是大发娱乐在人类胃肠道疾病方面的专家； 詹姆斯·考克斯博士; is our dedicated metabolism expert; 比阿特丽斯·克努森，医学博士; is our histology and imaging specialist; and there are many others. We have all learned different aspects of metabolism and that speaks to the collaborative nature 在人机交互.”
该团队提交了一份 P01 拨款给国家癌症研究所. The proposal investigates how intestinal stem cell metabolism impacts stem cell function during gut homeostasis, 再生, 以及肿瘤的发展. 该项目的目标是确定新的营养物质, 药用, 以及预防的基因方法, 诊断, 以及胃肠道癌症的治疗.
联合起来了解细胞如何分裂
Cancer happens when cells divide uncontrollably and spread into surrounding tissues. 研究ers at 亨茨曼癌症研究所 (HCI) from different specialties have teamed up with each other and with investigators outside HCI to better understand cell division pathways—the set of actions that lead to changes in the cell.
“Studying cell division is important because cancer often starts due to deregulation of these pathways,” 凯瑟琳年代. Ullman博士, a member of the Cell Response and Regulation (CRR) program 在人机交互 and professor of oncological sciences at the University of Utah (U of U). “When we look at these steps, we begin to understand how cancer cells get around these barriers.”
Ullman和 韦斯利我. Sundquist博士, CRR成员，美国大学生物化学教授, 与亚当·弗罗斯特合作, 博士学位, MD, 他在加州大学旧金山分校工作, 和胡安·马丁-塞拉诺, 博士学位, a scientist and vice dean of 研究 and Impact at King’s College in London, 关于细胞分裂的主题. One of the group’s projects focused on how a cell’s nucleus is formed and other changes that occur as the cell divides. 这项研究发表在 自然 in 2020.
乌尔曼和桑德奎斯特指导两名学员, 劳伦·威廉姆斯, 博士学位, 还有吉纳维芙·考德威尔, who study abscission—the step of cell division that physically separates the two new cells.
Ullman和 Sundquist also guide a larger collaborative team looking at abscission and its regulation.
CRR大发娱乐提供了试点资金，在很大程度上促进了这种交叉合作.
“The collaboration has been productive because we all have different backgrounds and specialties,乌尔曼说. 韦斯利是生物化学和结构生物学方面的专家, 这样他就能弄清楚分离过程的路径了吗. 我的团队专注于细胞分裂过程的成像. Combining these different disciplinary backgrounds has been crucial to our research.”
乌尔曼和桑德奎斯特现在有了一个 R01款项 from the National Institutes of Health involving multiple principal investigators. 这个团队正在处理一个项目拨款申请.
“了解细胞分裂是非常重要的，”Ullman说. “然而,令人惊讶的是, there has not been a lot of attention paid to the last step of cell division, 当细胞断开时, 以及如何进行监管. To create new tools to stop cell division, we need to know what keeps it going.”