Deciphering tumour cells to combat cancer

María Abad

Fundació Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIO), Spain

One of the mechanisms cells use to communicate with each other is the secretion of exosomes, small vesicles containing proteins and genetic material that act as “messengers”.

In tumors, tumor cells use exosomes to send signals that promote tumor growth and metastasis. Recently it has been discovered that our cells contain thousands of small proteins called micropeptides, a new class of proteins that have been ignored until now, but that seem to have key functions in the regulation of many biological processes. The project claims that tumor cells use micropeptides as messengers secreted in exosomes.

Research will focus on pancreatic cancer, one of the most aggressive cancers, and will identify which micropeptides these tumors use to promote disease progression and metastasis, which may make it possible to find new biomarkers of the disease and to develop new therapies

• Héctor Peinado Selgas, Fundación Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas Carlos III (CNIO), Spain

• Bruno Costa-Silva, Champalimaud Foundation, Portugal

Defining the role of exosome-secreted micropeptides in pancreatic cancer

€694,600