Grant: Master's 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 (EGF) elicits a cellular response when it binds to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). EGFR is a receptor on the cell surface that controls much of what cells can do such as growth, movement (migration) and survival. Therefore, EGFR must be tightly regulated by the cell. When this control fails, this can lead to growth, survival and metastasis of many tumors. Our lab has identified a new function for the protein clathrin inside cells to control the function of EGFR and thus its ability to control cell growth and survival. Clathrin forms tiny structures that are a few nanometers long, that critically also contain other proteins called TOM1L1 and Fyn. These tiny clathrin structure are critical to control EGFR; however, we do not fully understand how these dynamic protein assemblies form, and how specifically they are able to control the oncogene EGFR. To better understand how clathrin controls EGFR, I will use fluorescently-tagged versions of the key proteins clathrin, TOM1L1 and Fyn alongside labelled EGFR in living cancer cells, coupled to advanced microscopy. Using this and computer-based automated image analysis, I will learn how clathrin protein assemblies control the key oncogene EGFR in certain cancers. The significance of this research is that understanding this novel role of clathrin has the potential to reveal new weakness of certain cancers that can be thus targeted with new drugs.