Quantification of cancer pathways

Coordinator:		PD Dr. Holger Sültmann
Institution:		Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum - DKFZ
Homepage:		www.dkfz.de

UThe term signal transduction refers to the development and transmission of information, and reaction to it in cellular systems. The balance between cell division, cell differentiation and apoptosis (cell death) is tightly controlled and monitored by cellular signal transduction pathways. Perturbations of this balance by gene mutations of e.g. cell cycle regulating genes are causative for the development of tumors.
The goal of subproject 5 is to determine the effects of selected gene mutations found in cancer patients on the activation status of cancer-related signal transduction pathways. The results will help to understand the role of these gene mutations in the development of cancer.
The influence of cancer-relevant gene mutations on signal transduction pathways and the influences on protein expression and modification will be analyzed in the same recombinant cell lines as used by subproject 4. The measurements will be performed by using the antibody-based reverse-phase protein array technology. The effects of the mutated gene variants will be compared to their wildtype counterparts. These results, combined with the data generated within other subprojects, should elucidate the roles of the selected gene mutation in the development of cancer, and will hopefully deliver new starting points for the hypothesis-based and personalized development of anti-cancer drugs.