The speaker is: Professor Merja Heinäniemi
Instutute of Biomedicine, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Kuopio
Topic: Cell state transitions and emergence of drug resistance in cancer
Time: Wednesday 31.1.2024 at 15-16
The seminar will be held online (Microsoft Teams) and is open to everyone interested in cancer research.
Abstract:
Drug therapy is designed for targeting a specific molecular state in cells. In our ongoing research, we explore drug therapy in context of the
new paradigm that considers transitions into alternative cell states as a central part in treatment design for cancer therapy. We have carried
out characterization of cell states in context of the most common childhood cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
ALL represents a paradigmatic example of how alterations in transcription factors (TFs) initially block the normal developmental paths.
Moreover, a number of recent studies have shown that cell state plasticity presently poses a challenge for treatment success. As TFs represent
the master regulators defining cell states and via their regulatory interactions constrain the space of accessible alternative states, our focus has
been on abstracting genomics profiles into models of TF activity. More recently, we have also established analysis methodology to examine
microRNA gene regulation that impacts cellular homeostasis through post-transcriptional regulation and can thereby play a key role during
disease development.
In my talk, I will present recent results from our single cell genomics projects that show how transitions to alternative cell states with aberrant
TF activity, re-wired signaling activity, stem cell-like properties, even a lineage switch, can underly a poor treatment response in leukemia. Our
goal is to chart such transitions to develop new drug treatment strategies that block this route to treatment resistance to avoid disease
recurrence (10-15% of patients) that leads to a dramatic increase in cytotoxic burden, which endangers the life-long health, development and
well-being of children. In broader context of cancer therapy our work contributes to the conceptual framework of capturing cell state evolution
into predictive models to improve design of preventive measures that address the prevalent emergence of drug resistance in cancer.
More information: Link to the seminar flyer
Get to know the speaker: Link to the Systems Genomics – Heinäniemi lab’s website
Organizer: FICAN East
