Cancer and fibrosis are devastating diseases of high mortality rate and with limited curative therapies available. A better understanding of the biological drivers of these diseases is fundamental... Show moreCancer and fibrosis are devastating diseases of high mortality rate and with limited curative therapies available. A better understanding of the biological drivers of these diseases is fundamental in order to develop effective therapeutics. At the molecular level, signaling pathways control cell growth, differentiation or apoptosis during development and adult life of the organism ensuring homeostasis. Paradoxically, the same signals are often implicated or even drive disease progression. One of the signaling pathways with key regulatory functions in homeostasis, tissue fibrosis and cancer in many organs is the TGFβ/BMP pathway. In this thesis we addressed the role and therapeutic potential of TGFβ/BMP pathway inhibition using different drug compounds that are currently towards the clinic or being tested in clinical trials. Three distinct types of inhibitors were used; small molecule inhibitors of the ALK4, 5 and 7 TGFβ receptor kinases, an antisense oligonucleotide interfering with ALK5 mRNA splicing and an ALK1 ligand trap; a peptide that contains the extracellular domain of ALK1 fused to Fc and sequesters BMP9 and BMP10. These inhibitors were used in an ex vivo human fibrosis model and in vivo mouse models of various human diseases (acute liver failure/ liver regeneration, Dupuytren's fibrosis) and cancer (prostate, liver). Show less
We have developed novel fluorescence bio-imaging based automated models to screen for novel candidate targets involved in prostate cancer metastasis. Utilizing these models and adopting a... Show moreWe have developed novel fluorescence bio-imaging based automated models to screen for novel candidate targets involved in prostate cancer metastasis. Utilizing these models and adopting a functional genomics based approach; we identified SYK as a novel regulator of prostate cancer progression. We also identified functional involvement of MST1R in regulating the progression of prostate cancer. For both of these targets, there is supporting human clinical data to validate our results in prostate cancer. Show less
