Grant: CIHR New Investigator

Tumours are made up of cells that can be recognized by doctors and scientists by several changes they exhibit compared to normal cells. Some of these changes involve alteration in the abundance and function of a family of proteins called receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) within tumour cells. These changes in the function of RTKs are required for tumours to grow and spread in the body. Obtaining a better understanding of how a cell controls RTKs (and related proteins) has the potential to provide new ways to treat tumours and prevent cancer spreading. One member of the RTK family of particular interest is named Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR). Much has been learned about how EGFR functions to control the behaviour and growth of cells, mostly by identifying the other proteins in a cell required for EGFR to do this. However, much like knowing the name of dancers does not tell us much about the dance that they will perform, we need to know more than the identify of proteins that work with EGFR to control cell growth and spread: we need to understand their choreography. In molecular terms, we need to understand the organization of EGFR and other key proteins in space and time. We have recently discovered that EGFR signals must be organized in structures called clathrin-coated signaling microdomains to control cell growth and movement. Using advanced microscopy that allow us to 'see' the movement of EGFR and other key proteins (dancers), we aim to understand how these clathrin-coated signaling microdomains work in normal cells and how they are disrupted in cancer cells. Understanding how these structures control the "dance" of EGFR required to dictate cell growth and movement has the potential to allow the development of new therapies aimed at changing the "beat" to control how RTKs drive tumour growth and spreading. Hence, our research aims to help uncover novel strategies to treat certain types of cancer that are difficult to treat with existing therapies.