Role of autophagy in resistant receptor-tyrosine kinase altered cancers

• Applicant: Dr. Silvia Vega-Rubin-de-Celis, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Cell Biology
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 499297847

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women and about 20% of them have amplifications in HER2. HER2 is a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor family, and it regulates cell growth and survival. Targeted therapies with HER2 inhibitors are currently applied in clinical medicine but many patients develop resistance over time. Therefore, there is a need for finding alternative treatments. We discovered that autophagy is inhibited by HER2 and that autophagy inducers might be a potential treatment on HER2+ breast cancer. Autophagy is an intracellular degradation process in which the engulfment of cytoplasmic and organelle components by double-membraned vesicles, autophagosomes, leads to their degradation in the lysosome. Autophagy de-regulation has been shown in several types of cancer, and it is now clear that it plays a role in both tumor formation and progression. Therefore, we aim to study the role of autophagy in HER2+ resistant breast cancer as well as to understand the mechanism regulating these processes.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants