The accumulation of mutations in the genome of normal cells inevitably alters cell signalling with consequences for cell growth and survival and may lead to cancer development. Recently, the role of subtle alterations in the normal and fine-tuned cellular expression programs have also been recognized as mandatory to induce phenotypic transitions frequent in cancer initiation, progression, therapy resistance and recurrence. The integration of data on cancer gene-expression landscapes with data on structural aberrations acquired during cancer evolution, particularly in well-defined cancer settings, will be of particular interest to better understand cancer.
The Expression Regulation in Cancer Group aims at disclosing germline and somatic regulatory mechanisms and molecular circuitries, acting to increase gastric cancer susceptibility, and to confer advantageous features to cancer cell populations. To complete this objective, the group has gained access to large cancer patients cohorts, has developed dynamic in vitro models of EMT/MET and mistranslation, and has developed competences in high throughput technology analysis, bioinformatics, and state-of-the-art molecular and cellular biology.
The activities of the Expression Regulation in Cancer team will be particularly focused on the study of regulation of cancer-associated genes and implication for gastric cancer diagnosis, prognosis and management, as well as to the study of Epithelial-Mesenchymal-Epithelial transitions (EMT/MET) and mechanisms involved in metastasis and chemotherapy-induced resistance.