- Celebrating the 16th edition of the Fundación Mutua Madrileña’s Health Research Awards, VHIO’s Maria Abad, PI of Cellular Plasticity & Cancer, today received this latest recognition.
- Seeking out micropeptides that are implicated in pancreatic cancer, her team will functionally characterize their role and relevance towards targeting these molecular messengers as markers of disease progression and metastases.
Micropeptides are tiny proteins that, due to their size, have gone largely unnoticed under the lens. Up until now, that is. While the microproteome remains a relatively unexplored area, it is already showing promise in advancing discovery against cancer
Out of the mere handful of micropeptides that have been characterized to-date, three have been linked to cancer. Considering that there are thousands of these micro proteins in our cells, it is plausible that many of them, yet to be discovered, could assume important roles in tumor formation and metastatic cell spread.
The Mutua Madrileña Foundation has today awarded a novel VHIO-led project focused on exploring just that. Directed by Maria Abad, Principal Investigator of Cellular Plasticity and Cancer at VHIO, her team will investigate the microproteome of pancreatic cancer to identify new micropeptides that can be used as therapeutic targets as well as biomarkers of disease.
Commenting for VHIO Communications upon receiving her Award, Maria noted, “In my laboratory we have already unmasked several micropeptides implicated in cancer. Some halt tumor growth, while others prevent cancer cells from invading other tissues and metastasizing.”
She continued, “It is thanks to this invaluable support that we will be able to navigate this new world of micropeptides in greater depth towards translating their therapeutic promise at the clinical level.”
Pancreatic cancer has one of the worst prognoses of all tumor types, with no early detection program for high-risk patients. This means that disease is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, reducing therapeutic options and patients’ chances of survival.
Tumor cells secrete micropeptides that they employ as messengers to communicate with each other, and once secreted, they can be detected in blood. “Their easy and non-invasive identification in blood could therefore be an important forward step in diagnosing and classifying pancreatic cancer at much earlier stages of disease”, concluded Maria.
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