Understanding the involvement of SLC transporters in cancer metastasis and stemness

 

Understanding the involvement of SLC transporters in cancer metastasis and stemness
Identifying metabolic adaptive changes during the transition of indolent to aggressive cancers may help in tackling highly lethal malignancies such as pancreatic cancer. Our focus in this project is to identify the key alterations in the solute carrier landscape during the acquisition of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and stemness, drivers of metastasis and chemoresistance, in pancreatic cancer. For this purpose, we use next generation sequencing and transcriptomic and metabolomics studies along with newly generated KO mouse models to evaluate the putative involvement of SLC22 transporters. In addition, we study SLC22 directed cargo transport, tumor cell accumulation of oncogenic metabolites and associated signaling that would benefit the tumorigenic processes. Furthermore, we conduct preclinical studies targeting SLC22 subfamilies to potentially intervene metastasis and drug resistance by halting the supply of SLC cargos and associated oncogenic signaling. The project is expected to gather vital clues about SLC-specific vulnerabilities in pancreatic cancer and expose druggable targets for therapeutic intervention.