Towards new RNA therapies to treat one of the most lethal forms of liver cancer

Puri Fortes

  • PROJECT LEADER

    Puri Fortes

  • HOST ORGANIZATION,
    COUNTRY

    CIMA Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

  • DESCRIPTION

    The mechanism of action of some cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, involves damaging the DNA of tumour cells in order to eliminate them. Most of these cells eventually accumulate so many breaks in their genetic material that they collapse and die. However, cancer cells have the ability to repair these breaks very efficiently, allowing them, in the long term, to build up resistance to treatment. Specifically, they enhance the machinery that detects damaged DNA and triggers its repair by joining the two severed ends of the double helix. This mechanism gives them a survival advantage.

    In the case of hepatocellular carcinoma, one of the most lethal forms of liver cancer, it has been observed that the cancer cells of most patients express an RNA molecule called NIHCOLE. This is a highly versatile molecule that cells use to modulate multiple functions and that enhances the repair machinery of damaged genetic material, thereby increasing the survival capacity of these cells.

    In this project, researchers will try to identify other RNA molecules similar to NIHCOLE, whether natural or synthetic, in order to study how they work. To do so, they will use highly advanced technologies, such as single-molecule analysis, to observe these repair machines individually and in action. The knowledge gained will open the door to the design of new strategies that prevent the repair of damaged genetic material and thus lead to the death of tumour cells. These new RNA therapies will be tested in preclinical cancer models so that they can be transferred to a clinical setting at a later stage.

  • PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS

    • Fernando Moreno-Herrero, Centro Nacional de Biotecnología – Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CNB-CSIC), Spain

    • Oscar Llorca, Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO), Madrid, Spain

  • PROJECT TITLE

    LncRNAs modulating DNA damage and repair: towards novel therapies for hepatocellular carcinoma

  • BUDGET

    €999,203.20