Study of DNA tangles in tumour cells to develop new tools to diagnose and treat cancer

Felipe Cortés

Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO), Madrid, Spain

If the helix-shaped DNA molecule housed in the nucleus of each of our cells were unravelled, it would reach a length of two metres. This is because DNA is coiled and packaged into complex structures. As such, accessing the genetic instructions that govern proper cellular functioning is challenging: tangles, knots and other issues often arise (as an analogy, think of the cord of your headphones when you carry them in your pocket). Topoisomerases are the enzymes responsible for resolving these problems, untangling and undoing the knots that form, so that the genetic information remains tidy.

In this project, the team starts from the hypothesis that tumour cells accumulate a greater number of these topological problems, as the transformation process to which they have been subjected generates certain alterations in the DNA and increases the need for access to genetic information to be able to carry out their heightened proliferative activity. Therefore, the aim is to develop new diagnostic tools based on this characteristic, as well as new treatments aimed at modulating the action of topoisomerases in order to slow down the proliferation of tumour cells.

DNA topology and topoisomerases during oncogenesis: mechanisms and therapeutic opportunities

€499,000.00