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INTROPY: Innovative Cancer Treatment by Targeting Mechanotransduction
- Pere Roca-Cusachs Soulere, Professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Head of the Cellular and Molecular Mechanobiology group at Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), has been awarded an ERC Proof of Concept Grant.
- The grant is designed to help researchers explore the commercial and societal impacts of scientific projects previously funded by the ERC.
- Roca-Cusachs is embarking on an innovative project (INTROPY) to investigate the inhibition of mechanotransduction as a novel therapeutic avenue for cancer treatment.
- Mechanotransduction refers to the conversion of mechanical stimuli into biochemical signals, influencing biological processes like tumor progression and wound healing.
- Changes prompted by tumor activity is the stiffening of surrounding tissues, which is common in cancers that accelerates tumor growth.
- Roca-Cusachs and his team have identified a protein interaction involved in mechanotransduction and are proposing a therapeutic strategy aimed at inhibiting these specific proteins, thereby disrupting the mechanotransduction pathways that contribute to cancer progression.
- They have identified six small molecules that demonstrate considerable potential in targeting these proteins.
- The team's research may lead to the introduction of the first mechanoinhibitor drug, which would represent a pioneering advancement in the treatment of cancers characterized by mechanical stress responses, focusing on breast and pancreatic cancer alongside fibrosis.
- The research could resonate well beyond oncology as the mechanisms underlying mechanotransduction are relevant to various other medical conditions.
- The insights gained from the INTROPY project could influence therapeutic approaches across a spectrum of diseases characterized by dysfunctional mechanotransduction.
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