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Innovative research at the crossroads between embryonic development and tumour metastasis
EpiPlastCarcinoma aims at understanding how tumour cells lose their polarized epithelial phenotype, acquire an invasive phenotype and metastasize to other organs in the body. These processes frequently kill the cancer patient, however, little is currently known about the mechanisms that underlie tumour invasion and metastasis.
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To discover how cells develop an invasive phenotype, we study epithelial plasticity, with particular focus on epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) both in vitro and in vivo. We focus on the signalling pathways and genes involved in order to determine how they are regulated and their specific functions. We then want to determine the importance of these processes in carcinoma progression and metastasis. We aim to define new targets for cancer therapy and novel markers for diagnosis and prognosis. |
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