Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Cells communicate with each other through chemical cues, each of which can trigger a specific cell response. For instance, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a receptor on the cell surface that controls much of what cells can do such as growth, movement and survival. Therefore, EGFR must be tightly regulated by the cell. When this control fails, this can lead to cell growth, survival and metastasis of many tumors. Mutations in EGFR or an overexpression of the receptor is associated with multiple cancers, such as head and neck, glioblastoma, and breast cancer. We are specifically interested in a type of breast cancer called triple-negative because EGFR is overexpressed in a quarter of all patients. In this cancer the cells lacks the three conventional markers, which makes the cancer hard to diagnose and treat with conventional chemotherapeutic options. Our lab has identified a new function for the protein clathrin inside cells to control the function of EGFR. Clathrin was previously not known to control EGFR directly, and thus understanding how clathrin structures do so is critical to resolve how EGFR promotes breast cancer growth and survival. To resolve how clathrin controls the oncogene EGFR, I will use advanced microscopy that will image live cancer cells that have fluorescently-labelling of specific proteins, coupled to computer-based analysis methods. This research is significant because understanding this novel role of clathrin has the potential to reveal new weakness or drug targets within certain cancers, and may reveal new mechanisms to prevent resistance to current anti-EGFR therapies.