Tumor Microenvironment

Flash mob against cancer

Flash mob against cancer

Dr. Erkki Ruoslahti and collaborators may have found a way to attract treatment-laden nanoparticles to tumors.

Fueling cancer cell growth

Fueling cancer cell growth

Drs. Jorge Moscat and Maria Diaz-Meco have been working together for more than 20 years to understand the mechanisms influence cellular metabolism—a process that breaks down in cancer.

Shrinking tumors with homing peptide

Shrinking tumors with homing peptide

Drs. Michiko and Minoru Fukuda find that coupling a tumor-homing peptide and an anti-cancer drug drastically reduces tumors in a mouse model of colon cancer, with no apparent side effects.

Studying tumor microenvironment

Growth and spread of cancer involves not just the tumor cells themselves, but also other cells, tissues, and molecules in the environment surrounding the tumor. Research in this program aims to understand the molecular basis of cell-to-cell interaction, cell adhesion and cell migration, how these processes are controlled in normal physiology, how this control is subverted in disease, and how to restore normal control with chemical or biological inhibitors.

Researchers in this program take advantage of the Institute’s high-throughput screening and analysis facility in the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics to identify chemical compounds that inhibit the cellular processes that allow cancer cells to proliferate. While much of our research is focused on cancer, these studies also have clear relevance to a number of other diseases, especially inflammatory and nervous system disorders.

The program is also home to Sanford-Burnham’s Vascular Mapping Center—where phage display technology is used to identify peptides that home to individual tumors. An additional strength of the program is its strong expertise in glycosylation, a cellular process fundamental to many different diseases.

How our research helps improve health

Research in this program, combined with that of the other programs in the NCI-designated Cancer Center and the Conrad Prebys Center for Chemical Genomics, holds potential for the discovery of new cancer drugs and more safe and effective ways to deliver those drugs to the affected areas while minimizing side effects.

Research - Cancer - Tumor Microenvironment: How Our Research Helps

Recent Developments

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How cells sense nutrients and fuel cancer cell growth

In cancer, genes turn on and off at the wrong times, proteins aren’t folded properly, and cellular growth and proliferation get out of control. Even a cancer cell’s metabolism goes haywire, as it loses the ability to appropriately sense nutrients and use them to generate energy. One particular piece of cellular machinery that is known

Recent Publications

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Research - Cancer - Tumor Microenvironment: Recent Publications
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