Cancer Biology Research Program

癌症生物学研究：项目总结 弗吉尼亚联邦大学（VCU）梅西癌症中心（MCC）推出了新的癌症生物学 (CB)计划在2020年，结合从前癌细胞选择成员的优势和专业知识 信号传导和癌症分子遗传学计划。这次重组的目的是建立一个更加 在MCC的跨学科环境中，有凝聚力的，以癌症为中心的基础研究计划， 加强协作互动，增加播种新科学概念的机会。这些概念 可以通过与发展治疗学的成员进行团队翻译来进一步利用 (DT)或癌症预防和控制（CPC）计划。CB计划成员制定了一项总体科学计划 通过2021-2025 MCC战略计划实现支柱目标，以指导他们的努力-实现突破性的 通过解开肿瘤发生的机制范式和解剖肿瘤之间的关键相互作用， 肿瘤及其基质或免疫微环境。CB计划有三个具体目标 专注于癌细胞信号传导，遗传和表观遗传驱动因素以及肿瘤微环境。CB计划 成员进行创新研究，以了解癌症生物学的复杂方面，并在合作 与DT和CPC成员一起开发创新的预防、诊断和治疗工具， 癌症，特别是MCC集水区负担最高的癌症。最近，CB计划 采取措施与社区外展和参与办公室建立正式合作关系 确保其成员充分了解MCC流域癌症负担的独特特征 这样他们就可以最好地调整他们的科学来解决这个负担，并让社区参与CB计划 科学向前发展。在六所VCU学校/学院的47名成员中，CB计划还培养了 一个丰富的智力环境，吸引和指导日益多样化的早期癌症管道 生物学家CB计划成员目前持有780万美元的年度直接同行评审资金（310万美元来自NCI; 330万美元来自其他NIH研究所; 140万美元来自其他机构）。自2016年以来，CB计划的成员 在433篇与项目相关和针对癌症的研究文章中发表了他们的发现。展示 计划的合作性质，141（33%）出版物是计划内的，132（30%）是跨计划的， 266个（61%）是机构间的。在CB做出的众多科学贡献中， 自2016年以来，一些值得注意的包括：1）定义两种癌蛋白AEG-1和SND 1的作用， 肝细胞癌; 2）在癌症恶病质中发现一种新的激活素/Twist 1轴， 治疗操作; 3）将PDZ 1 i鉴定为有效的抗转移药物; 4）阐明 鞘氨醇激酶1抑制三阴性乳腺癌生长和抑制化疗诱导的 外周神经病变;和5）基于小鼠的外周神经病变，阐明转录组人类特征的相关性。 Treg细胞消融后的肿瘤相关巨噬细胞，在人乳腺癌中具有增加的存活率。

CANCER BIOLOGY PROGRAM: PROJECT SUMMARY The Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Massey Cancer Center (MCC) launched a new Cancer Biology (CB) Program in 2020, incorporating the strengths and expertise of select members from the former Cancer Cell Signaling and Cancer Molecular Genetics Programs. The objective of this restructuring was to build a more cohesive, cancer-centric, basic research program within MCC’s transdisciplinary environment that would enhance collaborative interactions and increase opportunities to seed new scientific concepts. These concepts could be further leveraged through team-based translation with members of the Developmental Therapeutics (DT) or Cancer Prevention and Control (CPC) Programs. CB Program members crafted an overarching scientific pillar goal through the 2021-2025 MCC Strategic Plan to guide their efforts forward – to achieve groundbreaking discoveries through unraveling mechanistic paradigms of tumorigenesis and dissecting key interactions between tumors and their stromal or immune microenvironment. The CB Program is organized under three specific aims focusing on cancer cell signaling, genetic and epigenetic drivers, and tumor microenvironment. CB Program members perform innovative research to understand the complex facets of cancer biology and in collaboration with DT and CPC members develop innovative preventative, diagnostic, and therapeutic tools to target specific cancers, especially those with the highest burden in MCC’s catchment area. Recently, the CB Program undertook initiatives to establish formal collaborations with the Office of Community Outreach and Engagement to ensure its members are fully aware of the distinct characteristics of the cancer burden in MCC’s catchment area so that they can best align their science to address this burden and engage the community in CB Program science going forward. With 47 members across six VCU Schools/Colleges, the CB Program has also cultivated a rich intellectual environment for attracting and mentoring an increasingly diverse pipeline of early-stage cancer biologists. CB Program members currently hold $7.8M in annual, direct, peer-reviewed funding ($3.1M from NCI; $3.3M from other NIH institutes; $1.4M from other agencies). Since 2016, members of the CB Program have published their discoveries in 433 program-relevant and cancer-focused research articles. Demonstrating the program’s collaborative nature, 141 (33%) publications were intra-programmatic, 132 (30%) were inter- programmatic, and 266 (61%) were inter-institutional. Among the many scientific contributions made by CB members since 2016, a few noteworthy include 1) defining the roles of two oncoproteins, AEG-1 and SND1, in hepatocellular carcinoma; 2) discovering a novel Activin/Twist1 axis in cancer cachexia that is amenable to therapeutic manipulation; 3) identifying PDZ1i as a potent anti-metastatic drug; 4) unraveling the ability of sphingosine kinase 1 to inhibit triple-negative breast cancer growth and to suppress chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy; and 5) explicating the correlation of transcriptomic human signatures, based on murine tumor-associated macrophages after ablation of Treg cells, with increased survival in human breast cancer.