KWF grant awarded for CRC phosphoproteomics

• Post by: OPL
• October 12, 2014
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KWF grant awarded “Signaling pathways involved in colorectal adenoma-to-carcinoma progression“

Project leaders: Beatriz Carvalho, Connie Jimenez and Gerrit Meijer

Despite extensive knowledge of the colorectal cancer (CRC) genome in general and the molecular mechanisms in colorectal adenoma to carcinoma progression in particular, it is still unclear how the complex genomic aberrations converge on cellular signaling pathways at the biochemical level, and consequently which precise biological status reflects an adenoma at high risk of progressing to cancer. The importance of protein kinases in this process calls for a global phosphoproteomics approach that can address the activation status of cellular signaling pathways and identify crucial kinases driving adenoma to carcinoma progression.

The current project aims to further resolve the biology of adenoma to carcinoma progression by focusing on cell signaling pathways, in particular on protein phosphorylation and functional validation of candidate driver kinases involved in adenoma to carcinoma progression. This will improve knowledge of CRC development that can be translated into more precise intermediate endpoints in CRC screening programs. This project builds on an extensive body of previous research in our labs and incorporates state-of-the-art phosphoproteomics as well as groundbreaking work on cell culture from primary colorectal adenomas by us and our collaborators.