Descripción del proyecto
OVER 90% OF CANCER RELATED DEATHS ARE CAUSED BY METASTASIS, DESPITE THE SEVERITY OF THE FIGURES, NO SPECIFIC THERAPY AGAINT METASTASIS EXISTS, MOSTLY DUE TO A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING ON THIS PARTICULARLY COMPLEX PROCESS, CURRENT THERAPIES AGAINST PRIMARY TUMORS TARGETING ACTIVELY DIVIDING CELLS DO NOT APPEAR TO BE EFFICIENT AGAINST METASTASIS AND THEREFORE NEW APPROACHES ARE NEEDED, RECENT RESEARCH IS HIGHLIGHTING THE ROLE OF SEVERAL SIGNALLING PATHWAYS ACTIVATED DURING THE METASTATIC CASCADE, MOREOVER, NEW TECHNOLOGICAL APPROACHES ARE CONTRIBUTING TO UNDERSTAND THE BIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF SEVERAL GENES DURING THE PROGRESSION OF METASTASIS,,TARGET SELECTION FOR FUTURE ANTIMETASTATIC THERAPIES REQUITES TO PREVIOUSLY DECIPHER THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF GENES INVOLVED IN THE DISEASE AND STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY CAN CONTRIBUTE TO A FULL UNDERSTANDING OF THE MECHANISMS INVOLVED, BY COMBINING CELL BIOLOGY, MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY TECHNIQUES, WE AIM TO UNDERSAND THE MOLECULAR ASPECTS OF NEWLY DESCRIBED GENES INVOLVED AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE SIGNALLING CASCADES THAT PROMOTE METASTASIS, IN PARTICULAR, WE¿LL FOCUS OUR EFFORTS ON THE EPIDERMAL GROWTH FACTOR RECEPTOR (EGFR) AND MAINLY NUCLEAR FACTOR KAPPA B (NFKB) PATHWAYS, BOTH ACTIVATED DURING METASTASIS, AS WELL AS OTHER LESS CHARACTERISED GENES THAT HAVE BEEN REPORTED TO PLAY A ROLE IN THE FINAL STAGES OF THE METASTATIC CASCADE, SELECTED TARGETS INCLUDE THE NFKB PATHWAY INHIBITORS OF ACTIVATION BREAST METASTASIS SUPPRESSOR 1 (BRMS1), TAX1BP1, CARD8, AND TRAF3 AS WELL AS THE COMPLEXES THAT THEY MIGHT FORM, METASTASIS SUPPRESSOR GENES SUCH AS DRG1 (DEVELOPMENTALLY-REGULATED GTP-BINDING PROTEIN 1) AND NM23 (NME1), BOTH PART OF THE SET COMPLEX WILL ALSO BE STUDIED, WE AIM TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE MOLECULAR MECHANISMS INVOLVING THE SELECTED PROTEINS AND COMPLEXES IN METASTASIS AS WELL AS STARTING TO SET UP THE BASIS FOR A FUTURE STRUCTURAL BASED DRUG DISCOVERY PROJECT OF SPECIFIC ANTIMETASTATIC THERAPIES CANCER\METASTASIS\ESTRUCTURA TRIDIMENSIONAL\VIAS DE SEÑALIZACION\SUPRESORES DE METASTASIS